Columbia  ©nit*  ttfitp 

THE  LIBRARIES 


From  the 


Library  of  John  Bates  Clark 


'JF' 


HCiP  YOUR  RED  CROSS 

inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it 
unto  one  of  the  least  of  these1 

FEDERAL  COUNCIL  OF  T HE  €l«R£!i£§  Of  CHRIST 
IN  AMERICA  '      . 


The  Progress 

of 

Church  Federation 


BY 


CHARLES  S.  MACFARLAND 

General  Secretary  of  the  Federal  Council  of  the 
Churches  of  Christ  in  America 


New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming  Hi  Retell >l  jCbi&pany 


London 


and  Edinburgh 


.JOC 


Bates  Giarfc 
,1940 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


BOOKS  WRITTEN  BY  THE  AUTHOR 

The  Spirit  Christlike 

The  Infinite  Affection 

Jesus  and  the  Prophets 

Spiritual  Culture  and  Social  Service 

Christian  Service  and  the  Modern  World 

The  Great  Physician 

The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

BOOKS  EDITED  AND  IN  PART  WRITTEN 
BY  THE  AUTHOR 

The  Christian  Ministry  and  the  Social  Order 

The  Churches  of  the  Federal  Council 

Christian  Unity  at  Work 

The  Churches  of  Christ  in  Council 

The  Church  and  International  Relations — 2  vols. 

The  Church  and  International  Relations — Japan 

Christian  Cooperation  and  World  Redemption 

The  Churches  of  Christ  in  Time  of  War 


1  'Nfcw<  York*  V8"  -Fifth-  Avenue 
Chicago :  l  j  North  Wabasr\  Ave. 
Toronto':  £5  Richmond  Styifet,  W. 
ConSbpy:*  *2\  *  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:     100     Princes     Street 


PREFACE 

THIS  volume  has  been  prepared  in  response 
to  a  considerable  demand  for  a  brief  record 
of  the  proceedings  and  activities  of  the  Fed- 
eral Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America, 
for  readers  who  are  unable  to  go  through  the  six 
rather  voluminous  books  constituting  the  record  for 
the  past  quadrennium,  but  who  do  wish  to  acquaint 
themselves  with  the  nature  and  scope  of  the  work 
of  the  Council. 

While  this  record  is  mainly  concerned  with  the 
quadrennium  from  19 12  to  19 16,  it  seems  best  to 
begin  with  a  brief  statement  of  the  history  and 
constitution  of  the  Council  up  to  the  year  1908, 
when  it  was  officially  organized,  and  also  of  its 
activities  during  what  may  be  termed  the  formative 
period  from  1908  to  1912. 

The  material  is  taken  mainly  from  the  six  vol- 
umes  of  the  Library  of  Christian  Co-operation. 

The  reader  who  desires  a  completer  study  of  the 
history  and  constitution  of  the  Council  will  find  it 
in  Dr.  Sanford's  interesting  volume,  "The  Origin 
and  History  of  the  Federal  Council,"  and  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  30  Constituent  Denominations  consti- 
tutes the  volume  by  the  author,  entitled  "The 
Churches  of  the  Federal  Council."  At  the  time 
of  writing  this  volume  arrangements  are  being  per- 
fected for  the  preparation  of  a  record  of  the  pre- 
vious Evangelical  Alliance,  which  will  also  be  of 


4  Preface 

interest  to  the  student  of  the  co-operative  move- 
ment. 

A  completer  account  of  the  procedures  and 
practical  activities  of  the  Council  will  be  found 
in  the  volumes  entitled  "Church  Federation,"  "Fed- 
eral Council  of  the  Churches,"  "Christian  Unity  at 
Work,"  the  six  volumes  composing  the  Library  of 
Christian  Co-operation,  and  "The  Churches  of 
Christ  in  Time  of  War."  Still  more  complete  are 
the  annual  reports  of  the  Federal  Council  and  the 
Home  Missions  Council. 

Statistical  information  will  be  found  in  the  "Fed- 
eral Council  Year  Book"  and  a  comprehensive  view 
of  the  social  movement  of  the  churches  may  be 
found  in  the  "Year  Book  of  the  Church  and  Social 
Service."  These  two  volumes  ought  to  be  secured 
annually  by  every  pastor,  and  should  be  in  every 
library  for  general  use. 

This  volume  is  an  attempt  to  present  a  general 
view  of  the  contents  of  ail  the  above-named 
volumes. 

On  the  work  of  local  federations  of  churches  a 
handbook  is  in  course  of  preparation  to  be  entitled 
"A  Manual  of  Inter-Church  Work." 

C.  S.  M. 

New  York. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Christian  Co-operation,  the  Call  of  the  Age  .      9 

II.  The  Origin  of  the  Federative  Movement  and 
the  History  and  Constitution  of  the 
Federal  Council 26 

III.  The  Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House  and 
as  a  Representative  Body  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Churches 43 

The  Churches  of  Christ  in  Council 43 

Taking  Counsel  Year  by  Year 56 

The  National  Offices  Day  by  Day 64 

The  Federal  Office  of  the  Churches  at  the  National 

Capital 76 

IV.  Christian  Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities  .  80 

Evangelism 81 

Social  Service 83 

Temperance 89 

Christian  Education 94 

Family  Life  and  Religious  Rest  Day 98 

Special  Opportunities  for  United  Action 102 

Religious  Work  at  the  Panama  Pacific  Exposition.  103 

American  Peace  Centenary 104 

Celebration  of  the  Protestant  Reformation 104 

The  War  Relief  Movement 106 

French  and  Belgian  Churches  and  Missions 106 

Campaign  for  the  Conservation  of  Human  Life. .  106 

Other  Special  Movements 107 

Co-operative  Movements  with  Other  Bodies. ...  107 
5 


6  Contents 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

V.  The  Development  of  Federation  in  Nation, 

State,  City  and  Town no 

Home  Missions 1 10 

Negro  Churches 117 

The  Country  Church 120 

Interchurch  Federation 124 

VI.  Christian   Co-operation  in  Foreign   Missions 

and  International  Relations 135 

Foreign  Missions 135 

International  Justice  and  Goodwill 145 

Relations  with  the  Orient 160 

VII.  The  Federal   Council   in  Time   of   National 

Emergency 169 

Conclusion 180 

Bibliography  of  Volumes  and  Pamphlets 183 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING  PAGE 

Help  your  Red  Cross  ....  Title 

American  Religious  Bodies  in  Conference 
at  Washington 52 

Administrative  Center  of  National  Fed- 
erated Protestant  Movements     .        .      66 

And  these  Workers— a  Few  of  the  Scores 
Employed  —  Help  Push  the  Federal 
Council's  Propaganda    ....      68 

One  of  the  "  Work-Shops  "  of  the  Federal 
Council's  Publication  Department      .       72 

Keeping  Touch  on  Religious  Movements 

at  the  National  Capital       ...       78 

Working  Out  Temperance  Publications 
and  General  Literature  for  Nation- 
wide Use 90 

Don't  Let  Her  Sign    .        .        .   '     .        .188 


CHRISTIAN  CO-OPERATION  THE  CALL 
OF  THE  AGE 

FEDERAL  unity  is  simply  denominationalism 
in  co-operation.  It  is  the  effort  to  adjust 
autonomy  and  corporate  action,  individu- 
ality and  social  solidarity,  liberty  and  social  adapta- 
tion. According  to  the  classic  definition  of  Herbert 
Spencer,  evolution  is  the  process  of  passing  from 
an  indefinite,  incoherent  homogeneity  to  a  definite, 
coherent  heterogeneity  during  which  the  retained 
motion  undergoes  a  parallel  transformation.  Thus 
the  rise  and  existence  of  denominations,  following 
the  Protestant  Reformation,  was  an  indication  of 
progress  and  not  of  deterioration. 

A  study  of  history,  however,  reveals  another 
element  in  evolution — namely,  that  it  is  cyclical. 
Progress  is  not  directly  in  one  direction,  it  comes 
through  both  forward  and  backward  movements. 
We  go  a  long  distance  in  one  direction,  we  then 
pause,  and  to  a  certain  point  make  a  return.  We 
then  gather  up  our  renewed  forces  and  move  on 
again. 

In  theology,  we  know  of  thesis  and  antithesis. 
First  we  move  in  the  line  of  one  proposition; 
then  comes  a  proposition  the  antithesis  of  this,  and 
out  of  the  ultimate  blending  of  the  two  we  find 
harmony  and  progress. 

9 


10    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

These  various  theories  of  evolution  seem  appli- 
cable to  our  denominationalism.  We  have  gone 
pretty  far  in  carrying  out  the  proposition  which  has 
resulted  in  the  diversity  of  denominationalism. 
Those  who  hold  to  Rome  have  gone  equally  far, 
in  their  antithesis,  in  the  direction  of  unity.  Per- 
haps we  are  getting,  among  our  Protestant  denom- 
inations, to  recognize  in  equal  proportion  the  two 
principles  of  evolution  and  progress  which  we  find 
everywhere  in  the  natural  order — diversity  and 
unity. 

Our  various  denominations  and  sects  arose  largely 
from  the  demand  for  freedom,  and  through  much 
suffering  we  found  our  freedom.  We  are  now 
recognizing  as  denominations,  however,  that  the 
highest  freedom  we  possess  may  be  the  freedom  to 
give  up  some  of  our  freedom  for  the  sake  of  the 
common  good.  This  was  the  kind  of  freedom  to 
which  Paul  referred  in  his  discussion  of  those  de- 
nominational differences  which  had  already  begun 
in  the  Apostolic  Church.  We  are  ready  to  acknowl- 
edge, without  forgetting  perhaps  that  in  our  intel- 
lectual expression  of  truth  we  have  been  of  Apollos 
or  Cephas,  that  we  are  all  of  Christ,  and  that  in 
allegiance  to  Him  we  must  maintain  or  regain  unity 
even  in  the  midst  of  our  diversity.  We  are  follow- 
ing still  farther  our  denominational  search  for 
freedom,  and  are  seeking  this  highest  freedom  in 
our  modern  movements  towards  Christian  unity. 

For  the  past  century  or  two  we  have  been  largely 
building  up  denominationalism,  and  now  we  have 
discovered  the  severe  truth  of  the  word  of  Jesus: 
"He  that  saveth  his  life  shall  lose  it,  and  he  that 


Christian  Co-operation  11 

loseth  his  life  for  My  sake  and  the  Gospel's  shall 
find  it." 

Meanwhile  one  of  the  most  startling  of  modern 
discoveries  is  that  we  have  been  so  sadly  and 
thoughtlessly  wasteful.  We  have  wasted  our 
mineral  wealth,  squandered  our  forests,  and  allowed 
the  mighty  forces  of  our  streams  to  run  out  into  an 
unneeding  sea. 

Worse  still,  in  the  development  of  industry,  and 
by  social  neglect,  we  have  wretchedly  wasted  our 
human  power  and,  as  our  new  legislation  witnesses, 
we  have  been  criminally  prodigal  with  human  life 
itself.  We  have  poisoned,  neglected,  maimed,  and 
mangled  by  our  inefficient  speeding  up,  by  our 
twelve-hour  days  and  seven-day  weeks.  While  we 
have  wasted  the  forests  that  make  the  mines,  we 
have  also  wasted  by  thousands  our  human  brothers 
in  the  mines,  have  slaughtered  and  despoiled  our 
women,  and  have  consumed  our  babies  beyond  the 
count  of  Herod  in  our  suffocated  cities,  while  we 
had  half  a  continent  of  fresh  air.  In  our  commer- 
cial development  we  have  sacrificed  innocent  human 
life  upon  its  altar  and  have  given  over  our  little 
children  to  an  industrial  Moloch  saying,  with  out- 
stretched iron  arms,  "Let  little  children  come  unto 
me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  King- 
dom of  Mammon."  And  if  we  followers  of  Christ 
are  content  to  disavow  the  blame,  let  us  remember 
that  in  the  same  breath  in  which  the  Master  said 
that  to  neglect  these  little  ones  was  to  forget  Him- 
self. He  also  condemned  men,  in  His  most  severe 
and  solemn  utterance,  for  the  things  they  didn't  do. 

But  these  are  not  an  intimation  of  the  worst  of 


12    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

our  dissipations,  and  indeed  these  wastes  have  been 
largely  because  of  a  deeper  and  more  serious  pro- 
digality. We  have  let  the  very  light  within  us  be- 
come darkness,  and  the  saddest  of  all  has  been  the 
waste  of  our  moral  powers,  our  finer  emotions,  and 
our  religious  enthusiasms,  through  sectarian  divi- 
sions, denominational  rivalries,  and  unrestrained 
caprice  often  deluding  itself  as  a  religious  loyalty. 

If  our  effort  for  redemption  had  been  given  more 
fully  to  prevention,  we  should  not  now  stand  trem- 
bling, shamefaced,  and  bewildered  before  the  re- 
sults of  our  own  social  havoc.  Our  most  serious 
profligacy  has  been  the  neglect  to  cultivate  our  ulti- 
mate power,  the  power  of  our  religious  enthusiasm 
and  our  spiritual  impulse,  because  they  were  neither 
socially  concentrated  nor  socially  interpreted  and 
applied. 

Let  us  consider  a  few  examples.  One  of  our 
most  important  Christian  endeavors  is  that  of  our 
home  missions,  which  is  nothing  less  than  the  under- 
taking of  the  conquest  and  the  moral  development 
of  a  new  nation.  It  was  the  earliest  and  one  of  the 
most  potent  forms  of  social  service  on  the  part  of 
the  Church  and  it  was  the  beginning  of  a  multitude 
of  new  social  movements.  Its  leaders,  like  Oberlin, 
built  roads  and  highways  for  religion,  and,  like  Mar- 
cus Whitman,  blazed  the  trails  of  civilization  across 
a  continent.  This  work,  however,  the  Church  has 
more  or  less  recklessly  attempted  without  serious 
forethought  or  prearranged  plan.  Sometimes  it  has 
been  carried  on  in  conflict  between  the  very  forces 
attempting  it,  and  even  when  sympathetic  it  has  not 
been  co-operative.    And  the  result,  time  upon  time, 


Christian  Co-operation  13 

has  been  that,  like  the  intrepid  discoverers  in  the 
antarctic  seas,  religious  enterprise  has  perished 
within  the  reach  of  plenty,  just  because  it  was  not 
social.  A  few  years  ago  the  Committee  on  Home 
Missions  of  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of 
Christ  in  America  investigated  the  state  of  Colo- 
rado. One  hundred  and  thirty-three  communities 
were  found  ranging  in  population  from  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  to  one  hundred  thousand  souls,  with- 
out Protestant  churches  of  any  kind,  one  hundred 
of  them  being  also  without  a  Roman  Catholic 
church.  And  they  were  places  of  deep  need  in 
rural  and  mining  sections.  In  addition  to  these 
there  were  four  hundred  and  twenty-eight  towns 
large  enough  to  have  postoffices,  but  without  any 
churches,  and  whole  counties  were  discovered  with- 
out any  adequate  religious  service. 

The  seriousness  of  the  other  problem  of  over- 
lapping is  indicated  by  a  town  of  four  hundred 
people  in  the  same  state  with  four  churches,  all 
supported  by  home-mission  aid,  and  this  but  one  of 
many  like  it. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  there  is  a  relationship 
of  cause  and  effect  between  the  revelations  of  this 
investigation  in  Colorado  and  the  recent  social  dis- 
aster which  has  befallen  that  state.  The  result 
shows  that  the  report  of  the  Commission  on  Home 
Missions  was  in  the  nature  of  a  prophecy.  The 
churches  and  the  religious  forces  of  Colorado,  as 
of  other  states  and  localities,  were  unprepared  to 
meet  the  social  situation.  Neglected  religious  con- 
ditions cannot  help  breeding  social  injustice  and 
wrong-doing,  and  in  order  to  meet  such  injustice 


14     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

and  wrong-doing  the  churches  need  clear  spiritual 
vision,  and  a  thorough  knowledge  of  plain  human 
facts.  Such  situations  utter  the  clear  call  for  co- 
operation and  unity  of  action  by  the  churches. 

This  investigation  was  followed  by  the  Home 
Missions  Council  in  fifteen  western  states,  in  what 
was  called  the  Neglected  Fields  Survey.  In  one 
state  seventy-five  thousand  people  resided  five  miles 
or  more  from  a  church.  A  rich  valley  with  a  popu- 
lation of  five  thousand,  capable  of  supporting  fifty 
thousand  people,  had  but  one  church.  In  another 
state  fourteen  counties  had  but  three  permanent 
places  in  each  for  worship.  One  county  in  another 
state  had  a  rural  population  of  nine  thousand  with 
no  religious  ministry  except  that  supplied  by  the 
Mormon  hierarchy.  Another  county  with  a  rural 
population  of  eighteen  thousand  had  regular  services 
in  only  three  of  its  school  districts. 

And  these  are  but  hasty  suggestions  from  this  re- 
port. The  social  problems  raised  by  home  missions 
have  been  a  determining  factor  in  the  development 
of  Christian  unity. 

Meanwhile  the  development  of  a  new  and  com- 
plex social  order  about  us  was  getting  ready  for  the 
call  of  a  persuasive  and  effective  gospel.  New 
foes  were  arising  on  every  hand.  They  were  all 
united,  and  we  found  ourselves  facing  federated 
vice,  the  federated  saloon,  federated  corruption  in 
political  life,  federated  human  exploitation,  and  then 
all  these  together  multiplied  in  one  strong  federa- 
tion, the  federation  of  commercialized  iniquity.  All 
of  these  were  bound  together  in  a  solemn  league  and 
covenant,  and  the  reason  they  so  confidently  faced 


Christian  Co-operation  15 

a  derided  Church  was  because  they  faced  a  divided 
one. 

On  the  one  hand  were  the  federations  of  labor 
and  on  the  other  hand  federations  of  capital,  gird- 
ing themselves  for  their  conflict,  waiting  the  voice 
which  should  speak  with  power  and  influence,  that 
should  quell  their  human  hatreds. 

Problems  of  social  justice  were  looking  to  us  with 
beseeching  voice,  and  we  found  ourselves  obliged 
to  face  them,  or,  worse  still,  to  shun  them,  with 
shame  upon  our  faces  and  with  a  bewildered  con- 
sciousness, because  we  had  no  common  articulation 
of  a  code  of  spiritual  principles  or  moral  laws.  Our 
spiritual  authority  was  not  equal  to  our  human 
sympathy,  because  it  was  divided. 

On  all  these  things  we  had  a  multitude  of  voices 
trying  to  express  the  same  consciousness,  but  the 
great  world  of  men  did  not  know  it.  Why  should 
they  know  it  when  we  had  not  found  it  out  our- 
selves ?    We  spoke  with  voices,  but  not  with  a  voice. 

Very  nearly  up  to  our  own  day  the  Church  has 
faced  united  iniquity  while  there  has  been  scarcely 
a  city  in  which  it  could  be  said,  in  any  real  or  serious 
sense,  that  its  churches  moved  as  one  great  force. 
And  in  many  a  town  and  rural  village  we  yet  have 
churches  wearying  themselves  to  death  in  a  vain 
struggle  for  competitive  existence,  or  suffering  from 
that  worst  of  diseases,  to  be  "sick  with  their 
brothers'  health.,, 

What  wonder  that  we  have  lost  our  civic  virtue ! 
Why  should  we  not  lose,  not  only  our  Sabbath  as 
a  day  of  worship,  but  also  our  Sunday  as  a  day  of 
rest?    Why  are  we  surprised  that  we  have  lost  not 


16     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

only  temperance  laws  but  also  our  temperate  ways  ? 
Why  should  we  be  astonished  that  with  the  loss  of 
these  we  have  also  lost  our  sons  and  filled  our  houses 
of  refuge  with  our  daughters?  Why  should  we 
wonder  that  the  rich  have  left  us  for  their  unre- 
strained, unholy  pleasure  and  the  poor  because  we 
had  no  united  sense  of  power  of  social  justice  to  re- 
strain an  industry  that  devoured  widows'  houses 
and  that  bound  heavy  burdens  grievous  to  be  borne, 
especially  when  this  was  sometimes  done  by  those 
who  for  a  pretense  made  long  prayers?  What 
wonder  that,  with  disintegrated  religions  which  gave 
no  adequate  sense  of  religion,  the  home  should  lose 
its  sacredness  and  the  family  become  the  easy  prey 
of  easy  divorce  and  of  unholy  marriage?  Still  we 
went  on  singing:  "Like  a  mighty  army  moves  the 
Church  of  God."  And  when  we  came  to  resolve  it 
to  its  final  analysis  the  only  trouble  was  that  we  did 
not  sing  together. 

Leave  for  a  moment  the  larger  review  and  con- 
sider the  work  of  our  individual  churches  and  the 
loss  of  their  constituency.  I  say  the  loss  of  their 
constituency,  because  the  Church  camaot  be  said 
to  gain  or  even  hold  its  own  if  it  simply  fills  its 
vacancies.  Many  churches  have  marked  time,  year 
upon  year,  and  thought  that  they  were  moving  be- 
cause they  kept  their  feet  in  motion.  The  age  be- 
came a  migratory  one.  Here  was  a  root  difficulty 
in  our  social  disorder.  The  family  left  one  city  for 
another.  It  drifted,  by  the  necessities  of  industry, 
from  place  to  place.  And  because  we  had  no  pro- 
vision for  shepherding  the  sheep  that  left  one  fold 
for  another,  they  wandered  about  just  outside  some 


Christian  Co-operation  17 

other  fold.  If  the  family,  say,  from  one  Baptist 
church  moved  near  another  Baptist  church,  there 
was  some  hope.  But  in  at  least  half  the  cases  they 
did  not. 

For  a  study  in  efficiency  visit  the  average  city  on 
a  Sunday  night  and  measure  the  power  of,  say,  one 
thousand  people,  scattered  among  twenty-five  or 
thirty  churches,  when  they  might,  with  the  contagion 
of  human  impact,  be  gathered  into  one,  with  a  man- 
ifold and  constantly  increasing  power  which,  with 
wise  direction,  would  send  them  back  to  fill  the 
empty  churches  whence  they  came  and  to  become 
and  to  exert  a  social  conscience. 

As  in  the  home-mission  fields  so  in  our  cities. 
We  have  whole  sections  religiously  dying  and 
socially  decaying  because  they  are  without  any 
churches,  while  other  sections  right  beside  them  die 
because  they  have  too  many  churches  to  be  sup> 
ported.  Effective  distribution  is  as  yet,  in  ever)' 
city,  either  an  undiscovered  art  or  at  best  a  feeble 
effort.  Our  rural  communities  are  in  a  like  situa- 
tion because  there  has  been  no  concert  of  action. 
The  so-called  rural  problem  as  a  social  perplexity 
has  arisen  almost  entirely  from  the  disunity  of  our 
religious  forces,  and  we  might  as  well  admit  it. 

Then,  for  many,  many  years  we  had  fervently 
prayed  that  God  would  open  the  doors  of  the 
heathen  world  and  let  us  in  to  take  care  of  the 
heathen  as  our  inheritance.  God  always  gives  us 
more  than  we  ask ;  and  so  He  not  only  did  that,  but 
He  opened  our  doors  and  poured  the  heathen  in 
upon  us.  When  the  immigrant  came  he  became, 
as  often  as  not,  an  American  patriot  before  there 


18     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

was  time  for  him  to  become  an  American  citizen. 
He  assimilated  everything  except  our  religious  im- 
pulse. He  learned  the  language  of  our  daily 
speech  because  we  have  only  one  language  to  be 
mastered.  But  our  religion  presented  to  him  too 
many  tongues.  And  why  should  we  wonder  that  he 
could  not  distinguish  between  them  ? 

He  met  centrifugal  forces  which  repelled  and 
not  a  centripetal  force  which  might  have  been  an 
irresistible  attraction.  He  found  a  united  democ- 
racy and  he  became  a  part  of  it  the  day  he  landed. 
He  saw  the  unity  of  ideal  in  our  public  schools, 
and  he  made  it  his  own.  And  if  we  had  met  him 
with  a  united  brotherhood  of  the  Church,  he  would 
have  felt  the  mass  impact  of  religion  as  he  felt 
everything  else  and  he  would  have  yielded  to  it. 

Every  once  in  a  while,  generally  not  oftener  than 
once  in  four  or  five  years,  the  wave  of  evangelistic 
power  would  strike  the  community.  The  evangelist 
came,  rallied  the  united  forces  of  the  churches  for 
a  week,  then  went  away,  and  we  strangely  supposed 
that  what  it  was  perfectly  clear  could  be  begun  only 
by  united  action  could  be  kept  up  and  developed 
without  it,  and  the  churches  fell  apart  sometimes 
a  little  farther  than  they  were  before. 

Meanwhile  every  force,  every  movement,  every 
single  group  gathered  to  oppose  the  Church  was 
making  its  common  compact  with  its  common  stock 
and  its  evenly  divided  dividends. 

It  was  not  because  we  were  not  thinking  right. 
It  was  not  because  we  were  not  thinking  alike.  It 
was  not  because  we  were  worshipping  differently 
or  because  our  polities  were  different.    It  was  sim- 


Christian  Co-operation  19 

ply  that  we  did  not  work  and  act  together  upon  the 
tasks  in  which  we  were  in  absolute  agreement.  We 
were  confused  in  our  self-consciousness.  We  con- 
ceived our  churches  and  our  sects  as  ends  in  them- 
selves rather  than  as  the  means  to  the  one  end  that 
we  have  always  had  in  common.  We  remembered 
that  we  were  of  Paul,  or  of  Apollos,  while  we  for- 
got that  we  were  all  of  Christ,  and  that  all  things 
were  ours.  We  were  losing  our  lives  because  we 
were  trying  to  save  them. 

So  much  for  the  facts  of  history.  Let  us  now 
seek  the  vision  of  prophecy.  This  prodigality  of 
moral  power  and  spiritual  impulse  was  not  because 
the  Church  was  becoming  an  apostate  Church.  It 
was  not  because  she  was  leaving  an  old  theology 
or  because  she  was  rejecting  a  new  one.  Taken  as 
a  whole,  her  views  were  bcoming  larger  and  her 
vision  finer.  In  certain  ways  she  was  creating 
greater  forces.  But  her  forces  were  spent  because 
her  attack  on  sin  was  not  concerted,  and  because 
she  was  not  conscious  of  her  own  inherent  unity. 
The  Church  and  ministry  went  on  doing  their  un- 
related work,  gaining  a  keener  moral  sense  and 
stronger  ethical  Gospel.  The  Church  and  her  Gos- 
pel were  creating  the  very  unrest  that  was  crying 
out  for  social  justice.  And  even  while  the  Church 
was  losing  the  toilers  she  was  preparing  for  their 
social  emancipation.  She  was  continually  creating 
larger  opportunities  which,  however,  she  was  failing 
to  meet  because  of  her  divided  moral  forces. 

We  now  feel  that  something  very  different  is  to 
be  done. 

It  is  interesting  that  the  first  serious  movement 


20     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

towards  federation  was  in  the  foreign  field.  The 
missionaries  began  to  send  back  word  that  they 
could  not  make  their  way  by  using  such  confus- 
ing tongues.  They  sent  imperative  messages  to  us 
that  they  must  get  together,  not  only  in  order  to 
impress  the  Gospel  upon  the  heathen,  but  for  their 
own  self-preservation.  Both  Christian  unity  and 
social  service  are  largely  reflex  actions  from  the 
field  of  foreign  missions. 

The  main  point,  however,  upon  wThich  we  are 
finding  our  most  common  approach  is  in  the  new 
emphasis  which  we  are  giving,  because  we  are 
forced  to  give  it,  to  the  nearer  social  problems  of 
our  day.  Here,  at  least,  we  find  no  true  reason 
for  differentiation.  No  one  will  argue  that  there 
are  Methodist  Episcopal  saloons;  or  such  a  thing 
as  Baptist  child  labor,  or  Congregationalist  vice, 
or  Presbyterian  sweat-shops,  or  Episcopal  Tam- 
many Halls,  or  Seventh-Day  Baptist  gambling- 
houses. 

Not  only  do  we  thus  find  no  sensible  reason  for 
division,  but  we  have  very  quickly  discovered  that 
we  shall  meet  this  opportunity  in  unity  or  else  we 
shall  not  meet  it  at  all.  Social  regeneration  must 
have  a  social  approach.  The  social  tasks  and  prob- 
lems of  a  city  cannot  be  met  by  any  Church  ex- 
cept in  common  conference  with  every  other 
Church. 

This  application  of  the  Gospel  to  the  needs  of 
the  world  is  what  is  giving  us  our  unity.  When 
we  get  together  upon  our  common  task,  we  cannot 
help  forgetting,  for  the  time  being  at  least,  the 
things  which  have  divided  us  because  we  find  our- 


Christian  Co-operation  21 

selves  in  unity  upon  these  two  laws  upon  which 
Jesus  said  the  whole  law  and  the  prophets  hung, 
on  love  to  God  and  love  to  man.  We  are  facing 
our  common  foe  of  commercialized  vice,  of  human 
exploitation  together,  and  we  are  receiving  abuse. 
As  we  stand  side  by  side  it  becomes  impossible  for 
us  to  do  anything  but  love  our  fellow-Christians, 
and  we  are  willing  that  they  should  make  their 
intellectual  expression  of  religion  according  to  their 
own  type  of  mind,  and  that  they  should  worship 
after  their  own  forms  and  customs. 

Is  it  any  less  holy  to  crush  out  a  den  of  vice 
than  it  is  to  regenerate  a  vicious  man?  Here 
again  our  differences  are  only  in  our  use  of  terms, 
and  not  in  reality  and  fact.  Go  to  commercialized 
vice  and  to  industrial  injustice  and  say  to  them, 
"We  will  make  the  laws  tighter,"  and  they  will 
answer,  "Very  well,  we  will  find  ways  to  break 
them.,,  Go  and  say  to  them,  "We  will  make  our 
courts  stronger,"  and  they  will  answer  to  them- 
selves, if  they  do  not  to  us,  "The  political  power 
of  our  money  is  stronger  than  any  court  of  justice." 

But  suppose  you  could  go  to  them  and  say, 
"The  churches  of  this  city,  all  of  them,  have  gotten 
together.  They  are  thinking,  planning,  and  mov- 
ing as  one  man  to  crush  you."  They  might  doubt 
it;  but  if  they  did  not  doubt  it,  they  would  fear 
it  as  they  have  not  feared  even  the  Almighty  Him- 
self. 

Now  for  these  common  tasks  we  are  discovering, 
faster  than  we  admit  it,  and  we  are  conscious  of 
it  faster  even  than  we  express  it  to  ourselves,  that 
for  these  common  missions  we  require  no  changes 


22    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

of  our  symbols  or  of  the  intellectual  expression  of 
our  religious  faith.  We  have  passed  the  periods 
both  of  division  and  of  toleration  and  we  are  en- 
tering that  of  serious  co-operation.  While  Christian 
unity  as  a  sentiment  is  everywhere  in  the  air,  it 
is  taking  perhaps  three  concrete  forms. 

The  first  is  that  which  is  expressed  by  the  hier- 
archy at  Rome.  It  is  not  our  purpose  here  to 
discuss  this  form. 

The  second  is  that  which  finds  expression  in 
such  movements  as  the  Christian  Unity  Founda- 
tion and  the  proposed  Conference  on  Faith  and 
Order.  For  that  we  pause  to  offer  a  sympathetic 
prayer  and  to  express  our  hope.  Co-operation  in 
service  must  precede  it,  or  at  least  go  hand  in  hand 
with  it.  Fellowship  and  unity  of  action  must  not 
wait  too  long  upon  it.  We  must  come  together 
for  it  with  enough  mutual  faith  and  trust  to  be- 
lieve that  our  aim  and  work  are  common. 

There  is  therefore  another  form  of  Christian 
unity  which  is  possible  without  waiting  for  the 
decisions  of  the  conference  on  faith  and  order,  and 
which  is  perhaps  necessary  or  advisable  before  we 
can  reach  the  common  ground  for  any  such  con- 
ference. It  might  be  called  Christian  unity  at  work. 
It  is  a  unity,  not  to  be  created  so  much  as  dis- 
covered and  interpreted.  We  already  have  it.  All 
we  need  to  do  is  to  exercise  it. 

God  has  put  into  our  human  order  the  mingling 
together  of  unity  and  diversity.  While  it  is  a 
unity  on  the  one  hand  which  is  not  uniformity,  it 
must  also  be  diversity  on  the  other  hand  which  is 
not  divisiveness.     I  believe  that  the  movement  of 


Christian  Co-operation  23 

which  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of 
Christ  in  America  is  the  most  concrete  expression 
is  an  illustration  of  this  principle  of  progress. 

Federal  unity  is  stronger  and  more  vital  than 
the  first  form  of  unity,  represented  by  the  Vatican, 
because  it  is  unity  with  freedom,  and  because  unity 
is  stronger  without  uniformity  than  with  it.  The 
social  difference  between  the  unity  of  the  Federal 
Council  and  the  unity  of  Rome  is  also  thus :  With 
federal  unity  the  Church  may  give  herself  for  the 
sake  of  the  world  regardless  of  what  becomes  of 
herself,  she  may  give  herself  for  the  sake  of  hu- 
manity and  not  for  the  sake  of  herself ;  while  under 
the  unity  of  Rome  she  is  obliged  first  of  all  to 
take  care  of  her  own  life.  We  must  be  willing 
to  save  our  life  by  losing  it. 

Federal  unity,  however,  recognizes  the  two  prin- 
ciples of  progress,  differentiation  and  coherence. 
It  recognizes  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  does  not 
mean  solitariness  on  the  one  hand  or  uniform  con- 
solidation on  the  other.  It  is  simply  genuine  co- 
operation without  regard  to  the  ultimate  result  to 
ourselves.  It  is  not  trying  to  get  men  to  think 
alike  or  to  think  together.  It  is  first  willing  that 
the  army  should  be  composed  of  various  regiments 
with  differing  uniforms,  with  differing  banners,  and 
even,  if  necessary,  with  different  bands  of  music 
at  appropriate  intervals,  provided  they  move  to- 
gether, face  the  same  way,  uphold  each  other,  and 
fight  the  common  foe  of  the  sin  of  the  world  with 
a  common  love  for  the  Master  of  their  souls,  for 
each  other,  and  for  mankind.     It  is  unity  without 


24     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

uniformity;  diversity  without  divisiveness ;  compre- 
hensiveness not  competition  or  compulsion. 

This  unity  we  already  have.  It  simply  awaits 
its  discovery  and  use. 

When  the  task  is  completed  and  the  Church  be- 
comes the  conscience,  the  interpreter,  and  the  guide 
of  the  social  order,  and  when  the  spiritual  authority 
which  she  possesses  is  translated  into  one  com- 
mon tongue  and  her  voices  become  one  mighty 
voice,  the  gates  of  hell  shall  no  longer  prevail 
against  her,  and  she  will  be  no  longer  weak  and 
helpless  before  the  haggard,  sullen,  and  defiant  face 
of  injustice,  inhumanity,  and  heartless  neglect,  and 
she  will  be  able  to  take  care  of  all  her  children— 
and  her  children  are  humanity. 

Finally  then,  the  creative  work  of  home  missions 
can  be  conceived,  to-day  and  to-morrow,  only  by 
a  Church  with  the  social  vision  and  impulse,  and 
can  only  be  performed  by  unity  and  comity. 

And  only  by  these  selfsame  tokens  can  the 
heathen  lands  be  redeemed;  the  heathen  of  those 
lands  who  come  to  us  to  be  shaped  into  a  Christian 
democracy;  the  Christian  Sabbath  be  saved;  the 
Christian  home  preserved  in  sacred  purity;  our  boys 
delivered  from  the  hosts  of  sin ;  our  girls  delivered 
from  the  lust  of  men;  the  people  redeemed  from 
injustice  and  oppression;  our  evangelism  be  re- 
demptive, and  the  Christian  Church  itself  be  saved 
from  becoming  atrophied  and  from  the  contempt 
of  the  world;  by  an  immediate  sweeping  social 
vision  and  an  instant  sense  of  genuine  and  earnest 
unity,  through  which  and  by  which  only  her  spiritual 


Christian  Co-operation  25 

authority  can  make  the  kingdoms  of  this  world 
the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord. 

It  is  true  that  the  pages  of  federal  unity  are  not 
free  from  interrogation  points.  There  is  one  com- 
prehensive answer  to  them.  As  the  writer  is 
called  to  go  from  one  to  the  other  of  the  Federal 
Council's  constituent  bodies  his  one  message  to 
each  is  this:  You  can  trust  the  other  twenty-nine. 
The  day  for  servile  suspicion  is  gone.  These  other 
brethren  will  act  with  you  in  united  freedom,  in 
united  faith,  competing  with  you  for  the  finest  of 
Christian  consideration  that  no  principle  held  sacred 
by  their  brethren  be  derided,  violated,  or  impaired. 

Thus  Christian  unity  will  come,  not  so  much  by 
abstract  process  as  by  concrete  experience;  not  by 
asking  whether  or  not  we  shall  come  together,  but, 
at  least  so  far  as  our  Protestant  evangelical 
Churches  are  concerned,  by  coming  together  first 
in  order  to  find  out  whether  or  not  they  should 
come.  It  is  the  call  of  trust  and  faith  and  we 
are  safe  to  heed  it. 

One  thing  is  certain,  as  we  face  the  task  of 
to-day: — if  the  Church  has  a  social  obligation  and 
opportunity,  if  her  human  sympathy  and  sense  of 
human  justice  are  to  have  a  commensurate  spiritual 
authority,  if  the  forces  of  iniquity  are  to  challenge 
her  powers  and  be  met,  if  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  are  to  become  the  Kingdoms  of  our  Lord 
the  Church  must  unite  her  scattered  forces. 


II 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  FEDERATIVE 
MOVEMENT  AND  THE  HISTORY  AND 
CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  FEDERAL 
COUNCIL 

THE  first  approach  toward  the  federation  of 
Christian  forces  was  the  organization  of 
Christian  men  and  women  in  various  volun- 
tary organizations,  upon  particular  interests  which 
were  obviously  common  to  all  the  churches.  Thus 
there  have  arisen,  during  the  past  half-century,  a 
large  number  of  interdenominational  movements, 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association,  the  United  Society 
of  Christian  Endeavor  and  various  other  young 
people's  movements,  the  Brotherhood  of  Andrew 
and  Philip  and  other  similar  bodies,  the  Laymen's 
Missionary  Movement,  the  Student  Volunteer 
Movement,  the  International  Sunday-School  Asso- 
ciation, and  other  co-operative  organizations. 

Another  type  of  such  movement  is  represented 
by  the  American  Bible  Society,  the  American  Tract 
Society,  and  kindred  societies  whose  chief  dis- 
tinctive common  characteristic  is  that  they  are  com- 
prised within  the  realm  of  what  are  known  as  the 
evangelical  churches. 

Of  a  still  diiferent  type  are  the  various  temper- 
26 


Origin  of  the  Federative  Movement    27 

ance  and  other  reform  organizations,  as  well  as  a 
multitude  of  societies  for  social  and  philanthropic 
work  which,  while  having  a  less  intimate  connec- 
tion with  the  churches,  are  almost  entirely  made 
up  of  officials  and  members  of  the  churches,  many 
of  which  either  tacitly  or  explicitly  regard  these 
organizations  as  expressing  the  will  of  the  church. 

These  movements  and  organizations,  while  each 
concerned  with  its  own  special  interest,  have,  at 
points,  found  their  work  to  be  in  common,  and 
have,  in  their  turn,  entered  into  occasional  voluntary 
co-operation. 

Later  this  general  movement  assumed  a  more 
official  character  through  the  home  mission  boards, 
resulting  ultimately  in  the  Home  Missions  Council 
in  1908,  the  Missionary  Education  Movement  for 
the  common  publication  of  missionary  literature, 
and  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North 
America  representing  the  foreign  mission  interests 
of  the  churches.  The  women's  boards  of  missions 
have  organized  the  Council  of  Women  for  Home 
Missions  and  the  Federation  of  Women's  Boards 
of  Foreign  Missions.  The  Sunday-School  Council 
of  Evangelical  Denominations  and  the  Interna- 
tional Lesson  Committee  also  belong  to  this 
category. 

The  organizations  which  have  been  named  do  not 
complete  the  entire  list,  but  are  mentioned  simply 
as  indicating  these  forms  of  co-operative  denomina- 
tionalism.  They  are  mainly  voluntary  movements, 
and  those  made  up  of  official  organizations  are 
officially  representative  of  those  boards  and  not  of 
the  denominations  themselves. 


28    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

Meanwhile  a  group  of  Christian  leaders,  among 
whom  should  be  mentioned  William  Earl  Dodge  and 
Dr.  Philip  SchafT,  whose  vision  and  interest  com- 
prehended the  whole  realm  of  Christian  enterprise, 
organized  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  which,  while 
it  was  not  an  official  organization,  did,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  within  a  limited  sphere,  speak  and  act 
for  the  American  churches,  or  at  least  for  Ameri- 
can Evangelical  Christianity. 

The  federative  movement,  speaking  in  the  stricter 
sense  of  the  word,  began  in  the  local  communities, 
the  first  federation  of  churches  having  been  the 
New  York  (City)  Federation  of  Churches  in  1895, 
preceded  by  the  East  Side  Federation,  and  fol- 
lowed in  1902,  by  the  Massachusetts  Federation. 

At  this  point  mention  should  be  made  of  the 
simultaneous  movement  toward  co-operation  and 
federation  in  the  foreign  field.  Attention  should  be 
called  to  the  fact  that  federation  in  the  home  field 
is  largely  in  the  nature  of  a  reflex  action  from 
foreign  missions.  From  time  to  time  since  1872, 
when  the  first  conference  was  held  in  Yokohama 
and  the  translation  of  the  Bible  was  arranged  for, 
various  gatherings  of  missionaries  have  been  held 
in  Japan,  looking  toward  increasing  co-operation, 
the  most  notable  of  these  being  the  Osaka  Confer- 
ence in  1 88 1  and  the  Tokyo  Conference  in  1900. 
The  same  procedure  took  place  in  other  foreign 
mission  centers.  The  transition  was  so  gradual  and 
normal  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  determine  the 
date  of  what  might  be  called  the  first  federation 
of  the  churches  in  the  foreign  field. 

The  following  historical  statements  are  made  on 


Origin  of  the  Federative  Movement     29 

the  basis  of  previous  reports  in  which  conflicting 
dates  are  given: 

The  year  in  which  the  first  local  federation  of 
churches  was  formed,  1895,  at  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Open  and  Institutional  Church  League,  one 
of  the  many  interdenominational  movements  of  that 
time,  the  secretary  of  that  organization,  Rev.  E.  B. 
Sanford,  in  an  address  calling  upon  the  churches 
for  larger  social  service,  gave  prophetic  utterance 
to  the  call  for  Christian  unity  as  a  sovereign  interest 
in  the  work  of  the  League. 

At  about  this  time  several  measures  were  pro- 
posed and  some  organizations  approached,  all  look- 
ing toward  the  same  end.  We  may  take  as  an  ex- 
ample of  these  the  proposal  of  the  Brotherhood 
of  Andrew  and  Philip,  in  1891,  which  resulted  in 
the  formulation  of  a  constitution  which  provided 
for  a  "Federal  Council"  whose  members  were  to 
be  appointed  officially  by  the  highest  judicatories  of 
their  representatives  on  the  executive  councils  of 
denominational  brotherhoods,  the  first  federal  con- 
vention of  this  organization  being  held  in  the  Marble 
Collegiate  Church  in  New  York  in  1893.  The 
founder  of  the  brotherhood,  Rev.  Rufus  W.  Miller, 
later  became  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee 
appointed  at  Carnegie  Hall.  Other  similar  ex- 
amples might  be  mentioned. 

The  first  meeting  looking  directly  toward  federa- 
tion was  held  in  New  York  in  1900.  The  presiding 
officer  was  William  E.  Dodge,  of  the  Evangelical 
Alliance,  and  its  administrative  work  was  per- 
formed by  Dr.  Sanford,  who  ultimately  became  the 
corresponding  secretary  and  is  now  the  honorary 


30     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

secretary  of  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches 
of  Christ  in  America.  It  authorized  action  that 
brought  about,  in  Philadelphia  in  the  next  year,  the 
National  Federation  of  Churches,  whose  member- 
ship was  composed  of  representatives  of  local 
churches  and  federations.  The  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  meeting  in  1900  sent  forth  an  utter- 
ance propounding  the  question:  "May  we  not  also 
look  forward  to  a  National  Federation  of  all  our 
Protestant  Christian  denominations,  through  their 
official  heads,  which  shall  utter  a  declaration  of 
Christian  unity  and  accomplish  in  good  part  the 
fulfilment  of  the  prayer  of  our  Lord,  'that  they  all 
may  be  one,  that  the  world  may  know  that  Thou 
hast  sent  Me.' " 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  National  Federation 
in  Washington,  in  1902,  a  committee  of  corre- 
spondence was  authorized  to  request  the  highest 
ecclesiastical  or  advisory  bodies  of  the  evangelical 
denominations  to  appoint  representative  delegates 
to  a  conference  to  be  held  in  1905.  This  conference, 
at  Carnegie  Hall,  New  York,  adopted  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of 
Christ  in  America,  which,  after  ratification  by  the 
constituent  bodies  in  its  fellowship,  brought  about 
the  final  and  complete  organization  of  the  Federal 
Council  at  Philadelphia  in  1908. 

The  1905  conference  elected  Rev.  William  H. 
Roberts  as  permanent  chairman,  and  the  new  fed- 
eration was  really  more  or  less  in  existence  during 
the  period  from  1905  to  the  final  organization  in 
1908,  through  a  permanent  executive  committee 
under  the  chairmanship  of  Dr.  Roberts.     Annual 


Origin  of  the  Federative  Movement     31 

reports  were  published  in  1906  and  1907,  regarding, 
not  only  the  progress  of  organization,  but  also  the 
development  of  the  federative  movement  in  local 
communities  and  in  the  foreign  field. 

Finally,  "the  meeting  of  the  first  Federal  Council 
of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America  was  opened 
in  the  Academy  of  Music  in  Philadelphia  at  7:45, 
on  Wednesday  evening,  December  2,  1908,  the  Rev. 
William  Henry  Roberts,  permanent  chairman  of 
the  Interchurch  Conference  of  1905  and  the  chair- 
man of  the  Executive  Committee  having  charge  of 
the  Philadelphia  meeting,  being  the  presiding 
officer." 

The  distinctiveness  of  the  Federal  Council  of  the 
Churches  of  Christ  in  America  lay  in  the  fact  that 
it  was  not,  like  the  other  movements,  a  voluntary 
interdenominational  fellowship,  but  an  officially 
and  ecclesiastically  organized  body.  This  was  the 
ideal  clearly  in  view  when  the  Interchurch  Confer- 
ence was  called  to  convene  at  Carnegie  Hall,  New 
York,  in  November,  1905.  The  following  is  the 
preamble  and  the  substance  of  the  Plan  of  Federa- 
tion adopted  by  that  Conference : 

THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  FEDERAL 

COUNCIL 
Plan  of  Federation  Recommended  by  the  Inter- 
church Conference  of  1905,  Adopted  by  the 
National  Assemblies  of  Constituent  Bodies, 
1 906- 1 908,  Ratified  by  the  Council  at  Its 
Meeting  in  Philadelphia,  December  2-8, 
1908. 

PREAMBLE 

Whereas,  In  the  providence  of  God,  the  time  has 
come  when  it  seems  fitting  more  fully  to  manifest  the 


32    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

essential  oneness  of  the  Christian  Churches  of  America 
in  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour,  and 
to  promote  the  spirit  of  fellowship,  service,  and  co-opera- 
tion among  them,  the  delegates  to  the  Interchurch  Con- 
ference on  Federation,  assembled  in  New  York  City, 
do  hereby  recommend  the  following  Plan  of  Federation 
to  the  Christian  bodies  represented  in  this  Conference 
for  their  approval : 

PLAN  OF  FEDERATION 

For  the  prosecution  of  work  that  can  be  better  done 
in  union  than  in  separation  a  Council  is  hereby  estab- 
lished whose  name  shall  be  the  Federal  Council  of  the 
Churches  of  Christ  in  America. 

The  object  of  this  Federal  Council  shall  be: 

I.  To  express  the  fellowship  and  catholic  unity  of 
the  Christian  Church. 
II.  To  bring  the  Christian  bodies  of  America  into 
united  service  for  Christ  and  the  world. 

III.  To  encourage  devotional  fellowship  and  mutual 
counsel  concerning  the  spiritual  life  and  religious 
activities  of  the  churches. 

IV.  To  secure  a  larger  combined  influence  for  the 

churches  of  Christ  in  all  matters  affecting  the 
moral  and  social  condition  of  the  people,  so  as 
to  promote  the  application  of  the  law  of  Christ 
in  every  relation  of  human  life. 
V.  To  assist  in  the  organization  of  local  branches 
of  the  Federal  Council  to  promote  its  aims  in 
their  communities. 
This  Federal  Council  shall  have  no  authority  overthe 
constituent    bodies    adhering    to    it;    but    its    province 
shall  be  limited  to  the  expression  of  its  counsel  and  the 
recommending  of  a  course  of  action  in  matters  of  com- 
mon interest  to  the  churches,  local  councils,  and  in- 
dividual Christians. 

It  has  no  authority  to  draw  up  a  common  creed  or 
form  of  government  or  of  worship,  or  in  any  way  to 
limit  the  full  autonomy  of  the  Christian  bodies  adhering 
to  it. 


Origin  of  the  Federative  Movement     33 

The  following  restatement  of  principles  underly- 
ing and  guiding  the  work  of  the  Federal  Council 
was  adopted  by  the  Executive  Committee  at  its 
annual  meeting  in  Baltimore,  December,  1913: 

Statement  of  Principles 

Its  distinctive  character  in  relation  to  the  denominations. 
— The  difference  between  the  Federal  Council  and  or- 
ganizations of  similar  general  purpose  which  preceded  it, 
is  that  it  is  not  an  individual  or  voluntary  agency  or 
simply  an  interdenominational  fellowship,  but  it  is  a 
body  officially  constituted  by  the  churches. 

Its  differentiation  from  other  movements  looking 
towards  unity  is  that  it  brings  together  the  various  de- 
nominations for  union  in  service  rather  than  in  polity 
or  doctrinal  statement. 

The  original  delegates  to  the  Interchurch  Conference 
on  Federation,  which  organized  the  Federal  Council, 
felt  that  these  limitations  were  necessary  in  order  that 
such  an  organization  might  have  adequate  strength  and 
momentum. 

Its  representative  character. — The  Federal  Council 
is,  therefore,  the  sum  of  all  its  parts.  It  is  not  an 
unrelated  organization.  Its  function  has  been  to  ex- 
press the  will  of  its  constituent  bodies  and  not  legis- 
late for  them.  Were  this,  however,  to  be  construed 
as  precluding  the  utterance  of  the  voice  of  the  churches 
upon  matters  in  regard  to  which  the  consciousness 
and  the  conscience  of  Christianity  are  practically 
unanimous,  the  Federal  Council  would  be  shorn  of  the 
power  given  it  by  the  constituent  bodies  when  they 
adopted  as  one  of  its  objects:  "To  secure  a  larger  com- 
bined influence  for  the  churches  of  Christ  in  all  matters 
affecting  the  moral  and  social  condition  of  the  people, 
so  as  to  promote  the  application  of  the  law  of  Christ  in 
every  relation  of  human  life." 

Denominational  autonomy. — In  the  original  Plan 
of   the   Federation   the   autonomy  of   the   constituent 


34     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

bodies  is,  however,  wisely  safeguarded.  No  action 
by  the  Federal  Council,  even  though  taken  as  all 
its  important  actions  have  been  taken,  by  the  unani- 
mous vote  of  the  officially  constituted  delegates  of 
the  constituent  bodies,  can,  by  the  terms  of  its  constitu- 
tion, be  legally  imposed  upon  those  constituent  bodies. 
Such  action,  by  the  terms  of  the  constitution,  goes  back 
to  the  constituent  bodies  in  the  form  of  a  recommenda- 
tion for  their  action  or  ratification,  which  may  either  be 
assumed  or  definitely  expressed. 

It  is,  however,  clearly  the  duty  and  the  function  of 
the  Council  to  determine  upon  objects  for  such  common 
action  and  to  find  appropriate  expression  of  the  con- 
sciousness and  the  conscience  of  the  churches  upon  them. 

Functions  of  the  Council — While  the  duties  of  the 
Council  are  thus,  with  these  safeguards  and  limitations, 
to  represent  the  churches  upon  important  matters  of 
common  concern,  and,  in  the  senses  above  indicated, 
to  exercise  a  genuine  leadership  which  recognizes  the 
whole  body  of  its  constituency,  the  Council  may  not 
consider  itself  primarily  as  an  independent  entity,  but 
rather  as  a  common  ground  upon  which  the  constituent 
bodies  through  their  official  delegates  come  together  for 
co-operation. 

Under  this  conception  the  Federal  Council  does  not 
create  new  agencies  to  do  the  work  of  the  churches, 
nor  does  it  do  the  work  of  the  denominations  or  the 
churches  for  them.  Its  policy  is  that  of  using  the  exist- 
ing agencies,  and  this  policy  should  be  followed  out  with 
relation  to  the  interdenominational  movements  which 
are  recognized  by  the  churches.  In  the  main,  however, 
these  existing  agencies  are  the  constituent  bodies  them- 
selves and  their  official  boards  and  departments. 

It  is,  therefore,  the  function  of  the  Council,  not  so 
much  to  do  things  as  to  get  the  denominational  bodies 
and  the  interdenominational  movements  to  do  the  work 
of  the  churches  in  co-operation.  Here  its  function  is 
not  that  of  overseer  and  director,  but  that  of  an  agency 
for  the  correlation  and  the  co-ordination  of  existing 


Origin  of  the  Federative  Movement     35 

forces  and  organizations,  and,  so  far  as  it  may  be  per- 
mitted, it  is  to  recommend,  give  guidance,  and  point  out 
the  way. 

Relation  to  local  federative  agencies. — With  rela- 
tion to  State  and  Local  Federations  the  Plan  of  Fed- 
eration distinctly,  it  is  held  by  many,  intended  that 
the  Federal  Council  should  be  the  initiator,  creator, 
inspirer,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  the  directing  agency 
of  such  federations. 

There  is,  however,  no  organic  relation  between  the 
Federal  Council  and  State  and  Local  Federations,  and 
it  can  assume  no  responsibility  for  the  constituency  of 
such  federations  or  the  form  which  they  may  take,  or 
indeed  any  responsibility,  except  so  far  as  they  may 
carry  out  the  principles  and  the  policy  of  the  Council. 

Commissions. — These  same  principles  of  policy  apply 
to  the  various  commissions  appointed  by  the  Council. 
They  act  always  as  agents  of  the  Council  and  distinctly 
represent  themselves  as  such.  They  also  hold  themselves 
as  subject  to  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Council 
in  accordance  with  the  by-laws  of  the  Council. 

Like  the  Council  itself,  these  Commissions,  in  relation 
to  the  denominational  agencies,  regard  themselves  as  the 
sum  of  all  their  parts. 

The  Council  thus  seeks  to  find  the  will  of  the  consti- 
tuent bodies  and  their  departments  and  to  interpret  and 
express  it  in  common  terms.  The  Council  then  aims 
to  secure  the  doing  of  the  will  and  conscience  of  the 
constituent  bodies  by  common  and  united  action. 

The  co-operation  implied  in  the  fellowship  of  the 
Federal  Council  does  not  require  any  one  of  the  con- 
stituent bodies  to  participate  in  such  co-operative  move- 
ments as  may  not  be  approved  by  it,  or  for  which  its 
methods  of  organization  and  work  may  not  be  adapted. 

The  Federal  Council  meets  quadrennially  and 
consists  of  about  four  hundred  qualified  delegates 
officially  elected  by  the  various  denominational  as- 
semblies or  other  constituted  authorities.     Its  Ex- 


36    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

ecutive  Committee  consists  of  about  ninety  repre- 
sentatives nominated  denominationally  by  these 
delegates  and  acts  for  the  Council  during  the 
quadrennium  between  its  sessions,  holding  annual 
and  special  meetings.  The  Executive  Committee 
has  an  Administrative  Committee,  holding  regular 
monthly  and  special  meetings,  which  acts  for  the 
Executive  Committee  between  its  sessions.  The 
national  office  and  its  executives,  under  the  Admini- 
strative Committee,  carry  on  the  continuous  work 
of  the  Council.  The  Council  appropriately  main- 
tains an  office  in  Washington,  D.  C,  and  has  be- 
come an  incorporated  body  under  the  laws  of  the 
District  of  Columbia. 

The  period  from  1905  to  the  final  organization 
of  the  Council  in  1908  was  occupied  in  consultation 
with  the  thirty  denominations  invited  to  constitute 
the  Council  and  in  securing  the  official  election  or 
appointment  of  representative  members.  The  quad- 
rennium from  1908  to  1912  was  a  period  largely 
of  experimentation.  The  Executive  Committee 
necessarily  moved  slowly  and  cautiously  in  the  effort 
to  make  the  adjustment  between  federation  and 
denominational  autonomy. 

Much  effort  was  given  to  the  development  of 
state  and  local  federations,  the  nation  being  divided 
into  districts  in  charge  of  district  secretaries.  This 
method,  however,  did  not  avail.  The  cities  and 
towns  were  not  prepared  for  federation.  Many, 
therefore,  of  the  federations  organized  were  short- 
lived. It  became  apparent  that  the  Council  would 
need  first  to  develop  the  spirit  of  federation  before 
it  could  proceed  to  successful  local  organization. 


Origin  of  the  Federative  Movement    37 

At  the  quadrennial  meeting  in  December,  1912, 
in  Chicago,  the  work  began  anew. 

The  Federal  Council  is  developing  its  functions 
somewhat  as  follows:  first  of  all,  it  is  a  clearing- 
house for  denominational  and  interdenominational 
activities;  secondly,  it  speaks  and  acts  in  a  repre- 
sentative capacity  for  the  evangelical  churches  of 
America  which  constitute  the  Council;  thirdly,  it 
acts  for  the  churches  in  several  departments  of 
work  through  commissions  and  committees  made 
up  largely  from  the  various  boards  and  departments 
of  its  constituent  bodies;  and  fourthly,  it  develops 
local  federations  in  cities  and  towns. 

In  preparation  for  the  quadrennial  meeting  of 
1916  the  Executive  Committee  appointed  a  widely 
representative  committee  to  survey  the  work  of  the 
Council  and  to  interpret  its  present  status.  The 
following  extracts  from  the  report  of  this  Com- 
mittee represent  its  general  tone: 

"The  Federal  Council  endeavors  to  serve  the  cause 
of  Christ  and  to  represent  the  Council's  constituent 
churches,  by  appropriate  utterances  from  time  to  time 
which  voice  the  mind  and  spirit  of  the  churches,  and  by 
undertaking  activities  dealing  with  the  practical  issues 
in  which  the  churches  are  enlisted  or  deeply  interested. 
It  does  not  deal  with  matters  of  doctrine  or  of  polity, 
but  it  does  attempt  to  give  united  emphasis  to  the  testi- 
mony of  the  churches,  and  solidarity  and  unity  to  their 
common  activities.  Acting  thus  in  its  representative 
capacity,  the  Council  has  initiated,  instituted,  and  as- 
sisted many  movements  which  have  for  their  object  the 
bringing  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  into  its  direct  applica- 
tion to  human  needs. 

"We  find  that  in  all  these  movements  the  Council 
has  both  kept  within  its  constitutional  provisions  and 


38     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

has  given  full  and  effective  expression  to  the  unity  of 
evangelical  Christianity. 

4 'The  Council  has  also  served  as  an  agency  through 
which  other  important  movements  and  causes  have  been 
able  to  secure,  appropriately  and  effectively,  the  atten- 
tion and  service  of  the  churches. 

"We  commend  the  executive  committee,  its  adminis- 
trative committee,  and  the  executive  administration  of 
the  Council  for  the  thoughtful  consideration  which  has 
been  constantly  given  to  the  relationships  between  the 
Council  and  its  constituent  bodies,  as  is  evidenced  by 
the  careful  statement  of  principles  prepared  by  a  rep- 
resentative committee  and  adopted  at  the  Baltimore 
meeting  of  the  executive  committee,  and  as  further 
evidenced  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee and  the  general  secretary. 

"In  the  field  of  international  relations,  the  Council 
has  appropriately  and  necessarily  sought  to  express  the 
spirit  of  the  churches  in  voicing  the  great  principles  of 
Christianity  in  their  application  to  the  spiritual  rela- 
tions between  races  and  nations. 

"We  would  urge  upon  the  constituent  bodies  the  fact 
that  this  great  Council,  so  potent  for  good,  is  of  their 
own  creation.  They  have  instituted  it  in  order  that 
they  might  have  one  comprehensive  body  which  would 
represent  them  and  give  attention  to  their  interests  in 
all  these  matters.  It  would  seem  needless,  therefore,  to 
urge  that  these  bodies  should  not  duplicate  the  work  of 
the  Council  and  its  commissions,  but  should  refer  to  the 
Council  such  matters  as  are  common  to  them  all,  for  the 
purpose  of  dealing  with  which  the  Council  was  created." 

The  President  of  the  Council,  Shailer  Mathews, 
sets  forth  the  situation  in  the  presidential  address 
in  1916  as  follows: 

"The  Federal  Council  has  had  difficulties  to  confront 
during  these  four  years.  Human  nature  is  so  consti- 
tuted that  it  is  always  easy  to  arouse  enthusiasm  for  an 


Origin  of  the  Federative  Movement     39 

idea  not  yet  in  operation.  In  fact,  nothing  is  more  cru- 
cial in  a  pioneering  movement  like  that  represented  by 
the  Federal  Council  than  the  effort  to  bring  ideals  into 
the  field  of  action.  Administration  is  always  the  test  of 
ideals.  It  has  been  no  accident  that  the  Federal  Council 
has  been  forced  to  steer  a  rather  difficult  course.  If  it 
had  confined  itself  to  conventions  and  speeches,  it  would 
have  been  charged  with  being  merely  doctrinaire.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  actually  became  effective,  it  was  in 
danger  of  being  charged  with  establishing  a  super- 
authority,  a  sort  of  Protestant  papacy.  That  the  Fed- 
eral Council  has  altogether  escaped  these  two  opposite 
criticisms  can  hardly  be  admitted.  There  have  been 
those  who  have  accused  us  of  dwelling  in  a  Utopia  of 
generalizations  beyond  realization;  there  have  been 
others  who  have  not  hesitated  to  say  that  federation, 
whether  represented  by  the  Council  or  by  local  organi- 
zations, is  a  blow  at  the  independence  of  denominations. 
"I  am  very  sure  that  an  examination  of  the  reports 
which  are  to  be  submitted  to  this  Council  will  show 
how  unfounded  is  each  of  these  two  criticisms.  _  As  the 
Committee  of  Fifteen  appointed  to  examine  into  the 
working  of  the  Federal  Council  reports,  'In  all  its  move- 
ments the  Council  has  kept  within  its  constitutional  pro- 
visions and  has  given  full  expression  to  the  unity  of 
evangelical  Christianity.' 

"There  is  a  danger  at  this  point  to  which  those 
responsible  for  the  conduct  of  the  affairs  of  the  Council 
have  not  been  indifferent:  it  is  that  the  Council  might 
become  bureaucratic,  and  that  it  should  put  in  the 
hands  of  a  small  group  of  men  power  to  set  forth 
their  own  ideals  and  impressions  under  the  guise 
of  a  representation  which  at  the  best  can  be  only  im- 
perfect. The  fact  that  those  charged  with  the  admin- 
istration of  the  Council  have  been  aware  ^  of  this 
danger  has  been  apparent  to  all  those  at  all  in  touch 
with  the  operations  of  the  Council  and  administrative 
commissions.  Equally  evident  has  been  the  determina- 
tion on  their  part  to  avoid  this  danger  at  every  turn. 


40     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 


The  General  Secretary  and  Administrative  Committee 
have  been  especially  cautious,  and,  at  every  point  in 
which  such  misinterpretation  was  possible,  have  been 
careful  to  set  forth  clearly  and  unqualifiedly  the  actual 
situation.  Their  success  has  been  most  gratifying.  The 
Federal  Council  at  the  present  time  stands  pledged  to 
no  peculiar  theories,  social,  theological,  or  political.  It 
has  refused  to  lend  itself  to  programs  threatening  to 
identify  it  with  some  program  or  party,  and  has  stood 
unqualifiedly  for  those  great  principles  which  are  in  the 
heart  of  our  evangelical  faith." 

The  Constituent  Bodies  are  as  follows: 


Baptist  Churches,  North 

National  Baptist  Conven- 
tion 

Free  Baptist  Churches 

Christian  Churches 

Congregational  Churches 

Disciples  of  Christ 

Friends 

German    Evangelical 
Synod 

Evangelical  Association 

Lutheran  Church,  Gener- 
al Synod 

Mennonite  Church 

Methodist  Episcopal 
Church 

Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South 

African  M.  E.  Church 

African  M.  E.  Zion 
Church 

Colored  M.  E.  Church  in 
America 

Methodist  Protestant 
Church 

Moravian  Church 


Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  U.  S.  A. 

Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  U.  S.  (South) 

Protestant  Episcopal  Com- 
missions on  Christian 
Unity  and  Social  Ser- 
vice 

Reformed  Church  in 
America 

Reformed  Church  in  the 
U.  S. 

Reformed  Episcopal 
Church 

Reformed   Presbyterian 
Church  General  Synod 

Seventh  Day  Baptist 
Church 

United  Brethren  Church 

United  Evangelical 
Church 

United  Presbyterian 
Church 

Welsh  Presbyterian 
Church 


Origin  of  the  Federative  Movement    41 

The  only  body  which  has  withdrawn  from  this 
fellowship  is  the  Primitive  Methodist.  In  191 1  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  (South)  with- 
drew, but  has  since  that  time  been  in  constant 
fellowship,  the  vote  of  the  Assembly  in  1917  being 
unanimous. 

These  bodies  have  all  federated  fully  and  officially 
in  the  Federal  Council,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  there  still 
obtains  some  difference  of  opinion  relative  to  Chris- 
tian federation,  which  it  is  believed  does  not  indi- 
cate an  essential  difference  of  general  view  regard- 
ing the  spirit  of  fraternity  and  fellowship.  At  the 
General  Convention  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  this  division  of  viewpoint  was  indicated  by 
the  fact  that  the  House  of  Deputies  voted  by  a 
large  majority  for  full  relationship  with  the  Federal 
Council,  on  which  action,  however,  the  House  of 
Bishops  was  divided  or  doubtful,  and  in  which  it 
failed  to  concur.  The  final  action  of  the  General 
Convention  was  as  follows : 

"Resolved,  That  the  General  Convention  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  hereby  records  its  grati- 
tude to  Almighty  God  for  the  growing  sympathy  and 
closer  relations  between  bodies  of  Christians,  as  evi- 
denced by  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of 
Christ  in  America;  but  the  strong  conviction  of  this 
Church  is  that  the  ideal  of  our  Lord  for  His  people  is 
organized  unity  in  one  body;  realizing,  however,  the 
desirability  of  Christian  co-operation,  where  practicable, 
without  the  sacrifice  of  principle,  this  Convention  ex- 
presses the  opinion  that  the  Commissions  on  Christian 
Unity  and  on  Social  Service  may  appoint  representatives 
to  take  part  in  the  Federal  Council." 


42     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 


r& 


It  should  be  said,  in  this  connection,  that  so  far 
as  practical  aspects  of  the  matter  are  concerned,  the 
relationship  is  little  different  from  that  of  the  other 
Christian  bodies,  and  the  Federal  Council  has  re- 
ceived delegates  from  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Commissions  upon  the  same  basis  as  the  delegates 
from  its  other  constituent  bodies,  and  has  received 
from  them  the  same  loyal  service.  This  is  also  true 
of  the  federative  movement  in  general,  the  differ- 
ence in  relationship  being  largely  determined  by  lo- 
cality and  individual  preference  on  the  part  of 
pastors  and  churches. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  FOR  CHAPTER  II 

The  Origin  and  History  of  the  Federal  Council, 
Sanford ; — The  Churches  of  the  Federal  Council,  Mac- 
f  arland  ; — The  Churches  of  Christ  in  Council ; — 
Church  Federation ; — Federal  Council  of  the  Churches ; 
— Christian  Service  and  the  Modern  World,  Macfar- 
land. 

Annual  reports  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation,  1906  and 
1908. 

Federal  Council  Year  Book, 


Ill 

THE  FEDERAL  COUNCIL  AS  A  CLEARING 
HOUSE  AND  AS  A  REPRESENTA- 
TIVE BODY  OF  THE  EVANGELICAL 
CHURCHES 

The  Churches  of  Christ  in  Council 

THE  following  story  is  gathered  from  the 
records  of  the  Recording  Secretary,  Rev. 
Rivington  D.  Lord,  who  has  filled  that 
office  in  the  Council  and  Executive  Committee  and 
the  Administrative  Committee  from  the  beginning. 
As  has  been  noted  in  Chapter  One,  after  several 
years  of  voluntary  co-operation,  the  first  definite 
movement  toward  the  official  federation  of  the  de- 
nominational bodies  was  the  Inter-Church  Confer- 
ence on  Federation  held  at  Carnegie  Hall,  New 
York,  November  15-21,  1905. 

Inter-Church  Conference,   1905. 

This  Conference  was,  in  the  nature  of  the  case, 
largely  devoted  to  a  survey  of  the  field  and  the 
taking  of  the  pulse  of  the  religious  bodies  of  the 
nation  by  the  comparing  of  notes  between  the  six 
hundred  official  representatives  of  the  twenty-nine 
bodies  represented,  who  had  been  selected  with 
a  view  to  their  genuine  representative  capacity  as 
more  officially  connected  with  the  various  bodies 
or  exercising  moral  and  spiritual  leadership  within 
them.  Although  a  Conference,  and  not  ecclesiasti- 
4ft 


44     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

cally  authorized  to  take  final  action,  the  seven  days 
of  the  Conference  were  largely  occupied  with 
constructive  plans  for  the  calling  of  a  permanent 
council  of  delegates  to  be  officially  elected  by  the 
evangelical  bodies  through  their  national  assemblies 
or  other  constituted  authorities. 

Of  this  meeting  John  R.  Mott,  then  as  now  one 
of  our  leading  religious  statesmen,  said: 

"I  regard  the  result  achieved  by  the  Inter-Church 
Conference  on  Federation  to  be  the  greatest  and  most 
significant  accomplished  by  any  religious  gathering  ever 
held  in  North  America.  The  potentialities  of  the 
federative  action  taken  in  Carnegie  Hall  are  limitless. 
If  the  plan  is  worked  with  the  best  human  wisdom  and 
with  an  unselfish  spirit,  if  Jesus  Christ,  the  great  Mag- 
net and  Unifier,  is  given  His  true  pre-eminence,  and 
if  the  council  of  representatives  of  the  various  bodies  of 
Christians  approach  all  their  tasks  with  a  sense  of  their 
need  of  superhuman  assistance,  the  Kingdom  can  and 
will  be  tremendously  advanced.  There  will  be  vast 
economies  as  a  result  of  preventing  overlapping  and 
undercutting  and  consequent  misunderstandings,  fric- 
tion and  ill-feeling.  Far  heavier  blows  will  be  dealt 
against  various  forms  of  iniquity  and  injustice.  A  much 
more  rapid,  complete  and  effective  occupation  of  field, 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  is  made  practicable.  A  great 
step  has  been  taken  in  the  direction  of  presenting  to  an 
unbelieving  world  the  mightiest  and  most  convincing 
apologetic  The  transactions  of  November  15-21,  1905 
will  loom  up  larger  and  larger  with  each  succeeding 
year." 

This  Conference  was  largely  one  of  orientation 
and  preparation. 

The  First  Federal  Council,  1908. 

The  official  beginning  of  the  Federal  Council 
was  at  Philadelphia  in  December,   1908,  the  first 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House    45 

president  being  Bishop  Eugene  R.  Hendrix  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  During  the 
three  preceding  years  a  permanent  committee,  of 
which  Rev.  William  H.  Roberts  was  the  chairman, 
had  been  in  conference,  consultation  and  corre- 
spondence with  the  thirty  or  more  evangelical  bodies 
named  in  the  plan  of  federation.  A  national  office 
had  been  maintained  under  the  administration  of 
Rev.  Elias  B.  Sanford.  Committees  had  been  ap- 
pointed to  present  to  the  Council  the  scope  and 
work  of  previous  interdenominational  organizations, 
the  advance  of  federation  in  foreign  missions  and 
the  progress  of  state  and  local  federations. 

Among  the  objectives  for  the  work  of  such  a 
Council,  full  presentation  was  made  of  home  mis- 
sions, immigration,  social  service,  Sunday  observ- 
ance, family  life,  temperance  and  Christian  educa- 
tion, special  attention  being  given  to  the  striking 
report  of  a  Committee  on  Weekday  Religious  In- 
struction, which  marked  the  beginning  of  a  move- 
ment now  assuming  practical  reality. 

Upon  formally  organizing  as  the  Federal  Council 
of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America  attention  was 
chiefly  given  to  the  report  of  the  permanent  com- 
mittee appointed  in  New  York  in  1905.  Authoriza- 
tion was  given  for  the  permanent  establishment  of 
a  national  office.  Elaborate  plans  were  made  for 
the  development  of  state  and  local  federations  of 
churches,  by  dividing  the  nation  into  districts,  and 
committees  were  appointed  for  uniting  the  Christian 
forces  represented  upon  the  objectives  which  had 
been  considered  through  the  carefully  prepared  re- 
ports of  the  committees.     The  public   session  at 


46     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

which  the  statement  of  social  principles  was  first 
uttered  may  be  said  to  have  signalized  a  new  epoch 
in  the  life  and  thought  of  the  churches. 

The  meeting  of  1908  was  largely  given  to  plan- 
ning the  lines  of  service  upon  which  the  churches 
might  unite. 

The  Second  Council,  1912. 

The  quadrennial  meeting  at  Chicago  in  Decem- 
ber, 1912,  at  which  Professor  Shailer  Mathews  be- 
came president,  brought  the  Council  to  its  real  test. 
It  followed  four  years  of  earnest  effort  and  experi- 
mentation. The  reports  of  the  committees  and 
commissions  indicated  both  success  and  apparent 
failure.  Revisions  were  made  in  the  administrative 
arrangement  and  the  by-laws  suffered  many  changes 
to  meet  new  measures  and  methods  proposed. 

The  reports  of  the  commissions,  however,  clar- 
ified the  situation  and  enabled  the  Council  to  plan 
for  the  future  in  the  light  of  actual  experience. 

While  this  meeting  was  thus  largely  devoted  to 
matters  of  administration,  consideration  was  given 
to  outstanding  world  problems.  A  message  was 
conveyed  to  the  Christian  Churches  of  China  and 
a  committee  appointed  to  present  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States  a  memorial  urging  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  Chinese  Republic.  Resolutions  were 
passed  expressing  the  sympathy  of  the  Churches 
of  Christ  in  America  for  persecuted  Christians  in 
other  lands,  a  message  of  encouragement  was  sent 
to  the  negro  churches,  and  other  similar  actions 
were  taken. 

Among  the  important  administrative  procedures 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House     47 

was  the  authorization  of  the  establishment  of  an 
office  of  the  Council  at  Washington,  D.  C,  and 
the  approval  of  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to 
undertake  religious  activities  in  connection  with  the 
Panama  Pacific  Exposition. 

Related  conferences,  1912. 

Previous  to  the  regular  sessions  of  the  Council, 
largely  attended  conferences  were  held,  one  of 
representatives  of  Theological  Seminaries  under  the 
direction  of  the  Commission  on  Christian  Educa- 
tion, and  an  informal  conference  of  representatives 
of  the  religious  press  which  prepared  the  way  for 
a  more  formal  conference  to  be  held  in  four  years, 
and  which  led  to  the  ordering  of  a  report  for  the 
next  quadrennial  meeting  on  the  state  of  the  re- 
ligious press.  A  largely  attended  conference  was 
also  convened  by  the  Commission  on  the  Church 
and  Social  Service. 

The  Chicago  quadrennial  meeting  may  be  said 
to  have  approached  standardization.  A  sufficient 
body  of  experience  prepared  the  Council  to  go  for- 
ward in  the  confidence  that  its  constituent  bodies 
would  grant  it,  subject  to  the  provisions  of  the 
constitution,  a  genuine  representative  capacity  both 
in  utterance  and  action. 

The  Third  Council,  19 16.     Related  conferences. 

The  third  quadrennial  meeting  at  St.  Louis  in 
December,  1916,  was  preceded  by  three  important 
related  conferences,  one  composed  of  representa- 
tives of  interdenominational  movements,  another  of 
representatives  of  the  religious  press,  and  a  third 
of  representatives  of  theological  seminaries.    These 


48     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

conferences  rendered  effective  service  in  preparing 
the  way  for  action  of  the  Council  itself  upon  matters 
of  the  most  vital  significance. 

The  conference  of  interdenominational,  non-de- 
nominational and  related  denominational  organiza- 
tions was  composed  of  ninety  representatives  of 
sixteen  such  organizations.  It  was  the  first  time 
that  these  bodies  had  come  together  in  anything 
approaching  formal  conference  upon  their  ob- 
viously mutual  interests.  John  R.  Mott  presented 
a  statement  of  principles  to  guide  co-operative  re- 
lationships, which  was  adopted.  As  a  result  of 
this  conference  the  Commission  on  Inter-Church 
Federations  was  prepared  to  begin  the  work  of 
the  new  quadrennium  with  the  full  sympathy,  ap- 
proval and  co-operation  of  all  of  the  interde- 
nominational bodies  dealing  with  the  work  of  the 
inter-church  federations. 

The  Religious  Press  Conference  marked  the  be- 
ginning or  the  deepening  of  co-operative  work  in 
connection  with  this  great  agency  of  the  churches, 
and  the  conference  found  expression  in  the  fol- 
lowing action: 

"The  Federal  Council  represents  the  constituent  de- 
nominations in  their  co-operative  work.  The  church 
press  is  the  essential  agency  by  which  church  news  is 
brought  to  the  members  of  the  churches.  The  relation- 
ship of  the  Federal  Council  and  the  church  press  is 
therefore  necessarily  intimate ;  and  news  of  the  work  of 
the  Federal  Council  should  be  regarded  as  vital  church 
news." 

The  Conference  of  Theological  Seminaries  re- 
ceived  an   illuminating   report   from   a   committee 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House    49 

which  had  been  appointed  four  years  previous  upon 
"social  teaching  in  theological  seminaries"  and 
spent  two  days  in  serious  consideration  of  the 
mutual  interests  of  the  seminaries,  the  unanimous 
opinion  being  that  the  conference  should  become 
a  permanent  one  in  connection  with  the  quadren- 
nial sessions  of  the  Federal  Council. 

The  Council  of  igi6. 

The  St.  Louis  Council  itself  consisted  of  about 
350  qualified  delegates  and  alternates  and,  in  ad- 
dition, 150  members  of  commissions  and  con- 
ferences in  attendance.  The  reports  from  the 
Executive  Committee,  the  various  Administrative 
Secretaries  and  the  Commissions  were  so  volum- 
inous that  the  Council  was  confined  almost  entirely 
to  matters  of  business.  There  was  less  need  than  in 
previous  meetings  of  survey  and  review.  The  re- 
ports presented  a  sufficient  body  of  experience  and 
the  carefully  prepared  recommendations  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Fifteen,  together  with  the  presidential 
address  of  Shailer  Mathews,  made  the  course  of 
procedure  sufficiently  clear  so  that  the  reports  of  the 
Commissions  received  adequate  attention,  although 
some  of  them  went  back  to  the  Business  Committee 
more  than  once  for  important  changes. 

In  addition  to  matters  of  business  and  admin- 
istration the  following  more  significant  actions  were 
taken.  Appropriate  responses  were  made  to  cable 
messages  from  the  officers  of  the  British  Evangeli- 
cal Alliance,  the  Franco-Belgian  Evangelization 
Committee,  the  National  Council  of  Evangelical 
Churches  of  Great  Britain,  the  National  Union  of 


50     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

French  Protestant  Churches,  and  the  British  Com- 
mittee of  the  World  Alliance  of  Churches.  A  tele- 
gram expressing  thanks  for  assistance  was  received 
from  the  American  Committee  on  Armenian  and 
Syrian  Relief  and  a  similar  joint  telegram  was 
received  from  a  committee  representing  about 
fifteen  of  the  war  relief  organizations.  A  message 
of  gratitude  came  from  Dr.  Henri  Anet,  repre- 
sentative of  French  and  Belgian  missions,  and  a 
wireless  message  from  Prof.  Adolf  Deissmann  of 
Berlin,  expressing  appreciation  of  the  visit  of  the 
General   Secretary   to    Germany. 

A  resolution  from  the  General  Conference  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  requesting  the 
Council  to  arrange  for  a  Council  of  Churches  to 
meet  at  the  time  and  place  of  the  European  Peace 
Conference  was  referred  to  the  Executive  Com- 
mitte  and  its  Administrative  Committee  for  favor- 
able consideration. 

A  communication  from  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  (South), 
protesting  against  actions  by  certain  commissions 
of  the  Council  which  seemed  to  the  General  As- 
sembly to  be  in  danger  of  violating  its  distinctive 
principles  relative  to  church  and  state,  was  given 
full  consideration,  and  a  special  committee  was 
authorized  to  attend  the  next  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  to  present 
an  appropriate  reply,  which  was  prepared,  and 
which,  in  the  unanimous  judgment  of  the  Council, 
would  be  entirely  satisfactory  to  the  General  As- 
sembly, as  ultimately  proved  to  be  the  case. 

In  response  to  a  message  from  brethren  of  the 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House    51 

Christian  Churches  in  Holland  relative  to  the 
closer  co-operation  of  Christian  forces  in  the 
Netherlands,  the  Administrative  Committee  was 
authorized  to  appoint  a  special  committee  for  con- 
ference with  the  committee  appointed  by  the 
brethren  in  Holland. 

A  new  committee  was  appointed  to  co-operate 
with  and  supplement,  if  possible,  the  work  of  the 
denominational  boards  and  secretaries  on  minis- 
terial relief  and  sustentation. 

Messages  were  received  from  the  Christian 
Churches  in  Japan  and  China,  and  the  Adminis- 
trative Committee  was  authorized  to  send  fraternal 
greetings  in  reply.  The  Commission  on  Relations 
with  Japan  was  enlarged  to  a  Commission  on 
Relations  with  the  Orient,  and  made  a  permanent 
commission  of  the  Council. 

A  message  was  conveyed  by  cable,  wireless  and 
letter  to  the  Christian  Churches  of  Europe  in  gen- 
eral, calling  "upon  all  Christians  throughout  the 
world  to  co-operate  in  an  effort  to  establish  a  peace 
that  shall  be  lasting  because  based  on  justice  and 
goodwill." 

Time  and  patience  were  given  to  the  report  of 
the  Committee  on  the  Negro  Churches,  resulting 
in  administrative  provision  through  the  various 
commissions  and  the  Executive  Committee  for  the 
special  interests  and  needs  of  the  negro  people 
and  churches. 

Upon  the  motion  of  a  leading  business  man  and 
manufacturer  of  St.  Louis,  local  church  federations 
were  advised  to  establish  a  department  of  industrial 
conditions,  with  a  secretary  for  its  administration, 


52     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

for  examination  and  report  upon  industrial  condi- 
tions, these  reports  to  be  made  to  the  local  federa- 
tion and  also  filed  with  the  Federal  Council  Com- 
mission on  Social  Service  to  be  formulated  into 
a  general  report. 

The  Treasurer  presented  an  encouraging  report, 
stating  that  the  receipts  for  the  work  of  the 
Council  and  its  commissions  and  movements  had 
increased  from  $35,000  in  1913  to  $143,000  in  1916, 
that  the  Printing  and  Publication  Department  was 
being  conducted  at  a  reasonable  profit  each  year, 
that  the  War  Relief  Movement  had  assisted  in 
securing  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars 
for  this  cause,  that  the  personal  efforts  of  the 
General  Secretary  had  secured  about  $100,000  for 
the  relief  of  Protestant  work  in  France  and  Bel- 
gium, and  that  the  total  of  the  amounts  passing 
through  the  various  offices  for  the  year  1916  for  all 
purposes  was  $277,000. 

While,  more  than  previously,  this  meeting  of  the 
Council  was  for  business,  many  related  public 
meetings  were  held  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  the 
more  significant  of  them  being  in  the  interest  of 
temperance.  Shop  and  factory  meetings  and  ad- 
dresses before  Civic  Bodies,  each  noon,  brought 
the  Council  close  to  the  people  of  St.  Louis. 

The  Council  adjourned,  with  a  sense  of  confi- 
dence that  the  work  it  had  projected  for  the  new 
quadrennium  could  be  pursued  with  clearer  vision 
and  with  more  confident  instruction  and  authoriza- 
tion, and  placed  it  under  the  guidance  of  President 
Frank  Mason  North. 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House    53 

The  Washington  Council,  19 17.    Special  session. 

Only  once  has  the  Federal  Council  been  called 
to  meet  in  special  session.  The  St.  Louis  meeting 
authorized  the  Executive  Committee  to  call  an 
extra  session  at  its  discretion,  foreseeing  that  the 
world  situation  might  at  any  moment  call  for  such 
action. 

The  call  for  the  historic  meeting  held  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  May  7  to  9,  191 7  was  issued  by  the 
President  and  General  Secretary  "upon  recom- 
mendation of  the  Administrative  Committee  and  by 
subsequent  vote  of  the  Executive  Committee,  which 
actions  were  taken  in  response  to  overtures  from 
local  federations,  ministerial  associations,  and 
other  elements  of  the  constituency  of  the  Federal 
Council, 

To  be  held  in  Washington,  D.  C,  Tuesday  and 
Wednesday,  May  8  and  9; 

For  prayer  and  conference; 

To  prepare  a  suitable  message  for  the  hour; 

To  plan  and  provide  for  works  of  mercy; 

To  plan  and  provide  for  the  moral  and  religious 
welfare  of  the  army  and  navy; 

To  formulate  Christian  duties  relative  to  conserving 
the  economic,  social,  moral  and  spiritual  forces  of  the 
nation." 

While  the  business  of  the  moment  was  urgent, 
requiring  administrative  development,  a  new  formu- 
lation of  activities  and  larger  co-operative  rela- 
tionships with  other  bodies,  in  fact,  an  entirely 
new  program,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
time  was  equally  divided  between  this  business 
on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  hand  unhur- 


54     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

ried  services  of  intercession,  led  by  Rev.  James  I. 
Vance,  Bishop  Eugene  R.  Hendrix,  Bishop  Earl 
Cranston,  Rev.  Charles  L.  Goodell,  Miss  Louise 
Holmquist,  Rev.  Edwin  Heyl  Delk,  and  the  Rev. 
Albert  G.  Lawson,  and  deeply  spiritual  conferences 
led  by  Rev.  Frank  Mason  North,  President  Henry 
Churchill  King,  Raymond  Robins,  John  R.  Mott, 
Robert  E.  Speer  and  Rev.  John  Henry  Jowett. 
The  experience  of  these  hours  of  intercession  and 
conference  not  only  did  not  interfere  with,  but  clearly 
facilitated,   the  momentous  business  of  the  hour. 

Plans  of  action  were  presented  by  representatives 
of  the  American  Bible  Society,  the  National  Board 
of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  the 
International  Committee  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  the  Council  of  Women  for 
Home  Missions,  the  Federation  of  Women's  Boards 
of  Foreign  Missions,  the  United  Society  of  Christian 
Endeavor,  the  Conference  of  Foreign  Mission 
Boards  of  North  America,  and  the  World  Alliance 
for  Promoting  International  Friendship  through  the 
Churches,  as  well  as  by  the  General  Secretary  and 
the  various  commissions  of  the  Federal  Council 
and  as  a  co-operating  body  by  the  Home  Missions 
Council.  Officers  of  the  Salvation  Army  also  in- 
dicated the  plans  of  that  body. 

A  preliminary  meeting  of  the  Commission  on 
Temperance  had  made  provision  for  a  union  of  all 
the  temperance  organizations  of  the  nation  in  con- 
nection with  the  army  and  the  navy;  the  Council 
sent  a  Committee  of  Nine  to  wait  upon  the  Con- 
gressional Committees  on  Agriculture  relative  to 
temperance    measures;    and    adopted    a    sweeping 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House     55 

temperance  resolution  in  clearer  terms  probably 
than  ever  before  set  forth  by  the  churches. 

It  was  voted  that  conscientious  objectors  should 
be  given  such  non-combatant  service  as  not  to 
violate  their  consciences.  The  official  representa- 
tive of  the  Red  Cross  expressed  the  desire  that  the 
Council  should  continue  and  increase  its  movement 
in  behalf  of  that  body.  A  message  was  conveyed 
to  the  Governors  of  all  the  states  relative  to  the 
moral  surroundings  of  the  mobilization  camps.  The 
officers  of  the  Council  were  authorized  to  send  out 
a  call  for  a  Day  of  Prayer  at  such  time  as  might 
seem  most  appropriate.  Various  measures  relating 
to  the  war  situation  were  delegated  to  the  appro- 
priate commissions  and  committees,  and  authoriza- 
tion was  given  the  Administrative  Committee  to 
set  up  a  special  commission,  if  needed,  for  con- 
sideration of  emergency  matters  during  the  war. 

The  Council  sent  forth  a  message  setting  forth  in 
the  first  part  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  churches, 
and  in  the  second  part  their  practical  duties  under 
the  following  headings:  Army  and  Navy;  the 
Liquor  Traffic ;  the  Social  Evil ;  Relief  Work ;  Child 
Welfare;  Food  Production  and  Conservation;  In- 
dustrial Standards ;  Justi  ;e  in  Distribution ;  and  the 
Safeguarding  of  Democracy. 

At  the  subsequent  meeting  of  the  Administrative 
Committee  a  Joint  Committee  was  constituted  on 
Co-operation  with  the  War  Work  Council  of 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  and  provision 
was  made  for  a  message  to  the  soldiers  and  sailors. 

The  general  feeling  of  the  representatives  of  the 
thirty    denominations    in    session    at    Washington, 


56     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

many  of  whom  were  new  members  who  had  not 
attended  previous  meetings,  was  perhaps  fairly  ex- 
pressed in  the  statement  of  President  King  that 
the  Federal  Council  had  been  providentially  created 
for  such  a  time  as  this,  and  that  the  times  call 
''pre-eminently  for  the  rallying  of  all  our  spiritual 
forces  from  the  start  as  the  European  Christian 
leaders  felt  that  they  themselves  did  not  quite  do." 
Indeed,  when  the  writer  of  this  volume  was  in 
Europe  last  year  in  conference  with  religious 
leaders,  considering  the  possibility  that  the  United 
States  would  be  drawn  into  the  war,  he  was  many 
times  admonished  in  the  same  direction,  and  it  was 
urged  that  in  case  of  such  an  emergency  the  Ameri- 
can Churches  should  gather  their  forces  together 
at  the  very  start. 

One  of  the  greatest  of  our  religious  leaders 
sought  out  the  Treasurer  at  the  close  of  the  ses- 
sions in  St.  Louis  and  said:  "If  the  Federal  Council 
did  no  more  than  bring  these  brethren  to  sit  and 
pray  and  think  together,  as  we  have  done  here,  it 
would  be  worth  many  times  all  its  cost,"  and  it 
may  be  said  that  these  quadrennial  councils  not 
only  mark,  but  make,  new  epochs  in  the  progress 
of  Christian  unity. 

Taking  Counsel  Year  by  Year 

The  Federal  Council  itself,  in  quadrennial  ses- 
sion, reviews  the  work  of  the  quadrennium  and 
authorizes  plans  and  measures  for  the  succeeding 
four  years.  It  does  not,  however,  go  out  of  ex- 
istence, and  appoints  an  Executive  Committee  rep- 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House     57 

resenting  and  nominated  by  all  of  the  constituent 
bodies,  which  meets  in  annual  session  and  in  special 
session,  and  which,  between  the  sessions  of  the 
Federal  Council,  is  authorized  to  act  in  the  name 
of  the  Council,  subjecting  its  actions  each  year  for 
approval,  to  the  national  assemblies  of  the  con- 
stituent bodies  or  their  other  authorized  agencies. 

The  Executive  Committee  in  turn  appoints  its 
Administrative  Committee,  meeting  monthly  and 
oftener,  which  is  authorized  to  act  for  the  Council, 
submitting  its  actions  yearly  and  oftener  for  ap- 
proval to  the  Executive  Committee.  Rev.  Howard 
B.  Grose  was  its  chairman  for  the  major  part  of 
the  first  quadrennium,  and  Rev.  William  I.  Haven 
from  1912-1916,  being  succeeded  by  Rev.  Albert 
G.  Lawson. 

The  continuous  work  of  the  Council  is  therefore 
carried  on  by  the  Executive  Committee  largely 
through  its  own  Administrative  Committee. 

1905- 1908. 

The  work  of  the  Executive  Committee  for  the 
preliminary  period  from  1905  to  1908  consisted  in 
patient  consultation  with  the  various  constituent 
bodies,  the  arduous  task  of  securing  their  official 
members  for  the  Council  of  1908,  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  committees  to  prepare  the  objectives  for 
the  work  of  the  Council. 

1908- 191 2. 

During  the  quadrennium  from  1908  to  191 2  the 
Executive  Committee,  its  chairman  being  Dr. 
Roberts,  who  had  served  during  the  three-year 
preliminary    period,    was    largely    occupied    at    its 


58     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

annual  and  special  sessions  in  developing  the  ad- 
ministration, the  establishment  of  the  national  head- 
quarters, and  the  work  of  the  various  districts  in 
the  development  of  local  federations.  Near  the 
close  of  this  quadrennium  the  Executive  Committee 
decided  to  recommend  a  discontinuance  of  the  dis- 
trict system,  in  the  belief  that  the  work  of  local 
federation  could  be  better  prosecuted  by  field  secre- 
taries associated  with  the  national  office,  regulating 
their  work  in  accordance  with  the  readiness  of  the 
various  localities  in  different  parts  of  the  country 
to  develop  effective  federations. 

Among  its  more  significant  actions  during  this 
quadrennium  was  that  which  related  to  lynching 
and  mob  violence,  the  initiation  of  the  movement 
which  has  resulted  in  the  increase  of  chaplains  in 
the  United  States  Navy,  the  beginning  of  work  at 
Washington  through  the  appointment  of  a  Wash- 
ington Committee,  and  the  establishment  of  ad 
interim  commissions  on  Evangelism  and  on  Peace 
and  Arbitration. 

In  the  development  of  the  national  office  and  in 
exercising  its  representative  capacity  the  Executive 
Committee  moved  with  a  deliberation  largely  in- 
stigated by  caution,  feeling  its  way  in  the  endeavor 
to  be  prepared  to  present  to  the  Council  of  1912 
clear-cut  recommendations  for  completer  develop- 
ment. 

1912-1916. 

During  the  quadrennium  1912-1916,  with  Rev. 
Frank  Mason  North  as  Chairman,  the  Executive 
Committee    held    four    annual    and    three    special 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House     59 

meetings,  with  which  were  associated  public  gather- 
ings addressed  by  the  Secretary  of  State  at  Rich- 
mond and  the  President  of  the  United  States  at 
Columbus. 

Among  its  more  significant  actions  other  than 
those  relating  to  administration,  which  will  be  more 
fully  recorded  under  the  activities  of  the  national 
offices,  were  the  following:  The  definite  establish- 
ment of  an  office  at  Washington  in  charge  of  an 
associate  secretary;  the  appointment  of  the  Ameri- 
can Peace  Centenary  Committee  to  celebrate  the 
one-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  signing  of  the 
Treaty  of  Ghent;  active  measures  for  the  increase 
of  chaplains  in  both  the  Army  and  Navy;  the  crea- 
tion of  the  office  of  General  Secretary;  a  restate- 
ment of  the  principles  anu  functions  of  the 
Council  in  191 3,  which  has  received  the  approval 
of  the  constituent  bodies;  the  incorporation  of  the 
Council  in  the  District  of  Columbia;  the  creation 
of  ad  interim  commissions  on  the  Church  and 
Country  Life  and  on  Federated  Movements;  the 
establishment  of  relationships  with  the  Home  Mis- 
sions Council  as  a  co-operating  body  to  act  for 
the  Federal  Council;  the  appointment  of  a  Com- 
mittee on  the  Negro  Churches;  the  issuing  of  calls 
and  subjects  for  the  Week  of  Prayer  each  year 
both  in  January  and  at  Easter  time ;  stern  measures 
relative  to  the  moral  tone  of  the  Panama  Pacific 
Exposition;  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  to 
further  the  celebration  of  the  two-hundredth  anni- 
versary of  the  birth  of  George  Whitefield  and  of 
a  Committee  on  the  Five  Hundredth  Anniversary 
of  the  Martyrdom  of  John  Huss;  the  initiation  of 


60     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

a  Committee  on  the  Four  Hundredth  Anniversary 
of  the  Protestant  Reformation;  measures  of  co- 
operation in  instituting  the  Church  Peace  Confer- 
ence at  Constance,  Germany  in  1914;  the  memorial- 
izing of  the  President  of  the  United  States  for  the 
appointment  of  the  National  Day  of  Prayer  which 
was  held  October  4,  1914;  the  sending  of  messages 
to  the  afflicted  churches  of  Europe ;  and  the  passing 
of  resolutions  in  behalf  of  the  Hebrew  people. 

A  delegation  was  received  from  the  French 
Protestant  Churches  and  a  Committee  appointed 
to  secure  assistance  for  them  and  another  com- 
mittee was  set  up  for  similar  assistance  to  the 
French  and  Belgian  Missions.  Upon  the  return  of 
the  General  Secretary  from  a  visit  to  Europe  in 
the  early  part  of  1916,  the  Administrative  Com- 
mittee sent  forth  a  message  to  the  constituent  bodies 
recommending  action  in  the  light  of  his  report, 
which  resulted  in  the  extension  of  the  nationwide 
war  relief  movement. 

The  Commission  on  Relations  with  Japan  was 
appointed,  with  Rev.  Sidney  L.  Gulick  as  its  repre- 
sentative and  the  President  of  the  Council,  Shailer 
Mathews,  and  Dr.  Gulick  were  sent  as  an  Embassy 
to  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  Japan.  The  General 
Secretary  was  sent  to  the  Panama  Congress  as  the 
representative  of  the  Federal  Council. 

The  Committee  had  initiated  a  war  relief  move- 
ment, beginning  with  an  appeal  for  the  Persian 
War  Relief  Committee  in  191 5,  authorized  the  In- 
ternational Committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  to  act  for  the  Federal  Council  in 
the  distribution  of  Christian  literature  among  pris- 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House    61 

oners  of  war,  and  in  March,  19 16,  held  a  special 
meeting  at  which  the  nationwide  war  relief  move- 
ment was  projected  on  a  considerable  scale,  and 
Rev.  E.  W.  Rankin  elected  as  Assistant  Secretary 
for  its  administration. 

A  Committee  on  Publicity  was  appointed  looking 
toward  the  development  of  a  Religious  Publicity 
Service,  a  Committee  was  appointed  to  consider  the 
matter  of  erecting  a  building  in  New  York  for  the 
grouping  of  the  offices  of  various  denominational 
and  interdenominational  organizations,  and  a  special 
committee  was  appointed  to  take  up  with  the  United 
States  Census  Bureau  the  matter  of  the  religious 
census. 

1917. 

Since  the  Council  of  1916,  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee has  elected  Rev.  James  I.  Vance  as  its 
Chairman  and  Hon.  Henry  M.  Beardsley  as  its 
Vice-Chairman ;  and  has  taken  action  approving  the 
union  of  the  Commission  on  Temperance  with  the 
historic  National  Temperance  Society;  has  author- 
ized the  creation  of  a  Board  of  Finance  to  control 
the  increasing  financial  operations  of  the  council; 
appointed  a  Committee  to  present  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States  and  Congress  the  resolutions 
of  the  quadrennial  meeting  relative  to  Oriental  re- 
lations ;  appointed  a  special  committee  to  carry  out 
the  action  of  the  Council  relative  to  the  work  of 
the  negro  churches;  and  authorized  a  conference 
of  the  representatives,  in  this  country,  of  Christian 
work  in  France  and  Belgium. 

The  Administrative  Committee  has  authorized  a 


62     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

committee  in  co-operation  with  the  several  Home 
and  Foreign  Mission  Boards  conducting  work  in 
the  Canal  Zone;  commissioned  the  General  Secre- 
tary to  correspond  with  representatives  of  the 
Churches  in  Holland  relative  to  joint  conference 
with  them;  appointed  February  18  as  a  Day  of 
Prayer;  conveyed  in  February,  1917,  an  appro- 
priate message  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States ;  approved  the  plan  of  the  General  Secretary 
to  raise  a  fund  for  the  American  Huguenot  Com- 
mittee; has  authorized  the  President  of  the  Council 
to  appoint  a  War  Commission  of  One  Hundred, 
and  appointed  a  temporary  committee  to  carry  on 
religious  work  in  connection  with  the  training 
camps  until  the  Commission  should  be  appointed. 
The  General  Secretary  has  been  authorized,  with 
the  approval  of  the  War  Department,  to  secure  the 
organization  of  a  corps  of  voluntary  chaplains. 

The  Committee  has  authorized  the  preparation  of 
the  subjects  for  the  Week  of  Prayer  in  19 18  in 
co-operation  with  the  World's  Evangelical  Alliance, 
and  has  voted  to  receive  a  delegation  which  is 
coming  from  the  French  Protestant  Churches. 

The  report  of  the  Executive  Committee  to  the 
Council  of   1916  closed  with  these  words: 

"Members  of  the  Council: 

Your  executive  committee,  as  conscious  of  its  falli- 
bility as  it  is  confident  of  your  tolerance,  lays  before 
you  the  record  of  its  work  since  the  last  meeting  of  the 
Council.  It  detects  in  itself  a  new  phase  of  feeling  as 
this  quadrennium  reaches  its  end.  These  four  years 
have  brought  to  this  fellowship  of  the  great  churches  of 
America  tests  and  discoveries.    Closer  contact  has  meant 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House     63 

clearer  focus — focus  in  which  the  unities  and  the  diver- 
sities have  equally  been  revealed.  One  knows  little 
about  friend  or  neighbor  until  one  travels  with  him. 
Who  shall  affirm  that  intimacy  has  not  deepened  re- 
spect, that  the  sharing  of  experience  has  not  melted 
away  prejudice,  and  given  new  warmth  to  sympathy? 
There  are  signs  that  self-knowledge  has  been  promoted. 
More  certainly  than  ever  before  there  is  a  common  un- 
derstanding of  what  binds  together  and  what  holds 
apart  the  churches  of  Christ  in  America.  Fellowship  is 
revelation.  We  are  more  nearly  sure  in  the  mutual  ex- 
amination of  our  common  Christianity  as  to  the  marks 
which  look  like  seams  in  the  fabric,  but  which  are  only 
flaws  in  the  weaving.  Our  convictions  do  not  lose  their 
strength  but  increase  their  length.  They  reach  as  be- 
fore to  the  men  who  have  been  our  denominational 
saints  but,  far  beyond,  to  Him  who  is  for  us  all  the  one 
Savior.  We  travel  back  upon  the  familiar  road  of  our 
denominational  history  to  the  point  where  it  diverged 
from  some  broader  fellowship,  but  we  do  not  rest  there. 
Unerringly  beyond  these  ecclesiastical  forks  in  the  road, 
past  every  branching  route,  joined  at  the  intersections 
by  groups  with  whom  for  decades,  it  may  be  for  cen- 
turies, we  have  been  sadly  unfamiliar,  we  find  our  way 
to  a  place  called  Calvary  and  a  hill  called  Olivet.  We 
waive  no  right  or  privilege,  we  break  with  no  sound 
tradition,  we  surrender  no  precious  heritage,  but  we 
become  fixed  in  the  persuasion  that  the  church  has  but 
one  inalienable  right,  the  right  of  finding  Christ  in  the 
world  of  to-day  and  interpreting  him  in  all  his  sacri- 
ficial and  triumphant  power  to  that  world.  Perfect 
agreement  in  opinion,  placid  uniformity  in  expression 
and  method  do  not  appear.  It  is  a  waste  of  energy  and 
time  to  seek  for  either.  But  in  this  fellowship  we  have 
seen  the  glory  of  sympathy  break  into  the  flame  of  en- 
thusiasm when  men  of  different  cults  and  names  have 
brushed  aside  tradition  and  prejudice  and  found  the 
Christ  in  one  another's  hearts.  It  is  not  in  what  we 
each  hold  dear  that  we  find  our  common  ground,  but  in 


64     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

what  we  each  hold  most  dear.  It  is  not  in  their  history, 
their  traditions,  their  formulae  that  the  churches  of 
Christ  can  be  one;  it  is  alone  in  the  Christ  himself. 

To  those  who  in  the  period  from  1894  t0  J908  looked 
and  worked  toward  such  an  organization  as  this  Federal 
Council,  that  notable  assembly  in  Philadelphia  seemed  a 
consummation. 

The  ascent,  however,  to  that  summit  brought  them 
and  the  churches  they  represented  not  to  a  mountain 
peak  but  to  a  plateau.  What  to  aspiration  had  seemed 
a  height  of  vision,  to  achievement  became  the  broad 
plain  of  opportunity.  Through  the  intervening  years, 
as  atmosphere  has  cleared  and  action  has  developed 
energy,  the  horizons  have  lifted  and  the  unbroken  light 
has  revealed  at  once  the  forces  and  the  tasks  of  the 
churches  of  Christ.  Brothers  of  the  Council,  it  seems 
to  your  Executive  Committee  that  the  period  of  ex- 
periment is  past.  Repair  and  complete  the  mechanism 
according  to  your  best  wisdom.  But  doubt  not  that  this 
fellowship  of  great  churches  in  America  expresses  in 
some  large  measure  the  mind  of  our  common  Lord ;  hesi- 
tate not  to  empower  it,  to  direct  it,  that  through  it  the 
divergent  policies  of  the  churches  may  be  turned  into 
converging  and  co-operating  forces;  that  through  it, 
perchance,  some  common  program,  large  enough  for  the 
needs  of  a  bewildered  and  broken-hearted  world,  may  be 
revealed  as  the  purpose  of  Him,  who  in  all  our  waver- 
ing, our  retreats,  our  advances,  our  victories,  is  head 
over  all  things,  to  the  church,  which  is  His  body,  the 
fulness  of  Him  that  filleth  all  in  all." 

The  National  Offices  Day  by  Day 
The  Conference  on  Inter-Church  Federation  in 
1905  established  a  national  headquarters  which  was 
permanently  continued  by  the  Council  in  1908,  in 
charge  of  Rev.  Elias  B.  Sanford,  as  Corresponding 
Secretary.  During  the  preliminary  period  from 
1905  to  1908  a  prodigious  work  was  accomplished 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House     65 

by  Dr.  Sanford,  with  slight  clerical  assistance,  in 
correspondence,  consultation  and  conference,  re- 
quiring a  large  amount  of  travel,  which  secured  the 
ultimate  action  of  the  constituent  bodies  and  the 
election  of  their  official  delegates  to  the  Council  of 
1908. 

From  1908  to  1912,  which  has  been  called  the 
formative  period,  while  the  concrete  activities  of 
the  Council  are  not  so  manifest  as  since  that  time, 
the  work  of  the  national  office  was  taxing,  and  the 
establishment  of  district  offices  in  Chicago,  Phila- 
delphia and  Denver  increased  the  work  of  the 
central  office.  Its  equipment  during  this  period  was 
very  simple,  consisting  of  Dr.  Sanford,  one  as- 
sistant and  a  stenographer,  and  was  entirely  in- 
commensurate. Rev.  O.  F.  Gardner  and  Rev.  G. 
Frederick  Wells  served  successively  as  assistant 
secretaries. 

The  period  from  1912  to  1916  showed  a  remark- 
able development  of  the  national  headquarters  due 
to  the  large  program  authorized  by  the  Council  of 
19 1 2.  While  this  volume  is  largely  occupied  with 
the  practical  activities  from  1912  to  1916  the  reader 
should  go  back  to  Dr.  Sanford's  volume,  'The 
Origin  and  History  of  the  Federal  Council,"  in 
order  to  appreciate  the  painstaking  and  self-sacri- 
ficing service  of  those  who  laid  the  foundations, 
upon  which  the  erection  of  the  structure  has  been 
a  relatively  simple  and  easy  task.  The  service  of 
Rev.  Charles  E.  Bacon,  Rev.  Hugh  B.  MacCauley 
and  for  a  brief  time  Rev.  John  T.  Thomas,  as 
District  Secretaries  at  Chicago,  Philadelphia  and 
Denver,  prepared  the  way  for  the  ultimate  develop- 


66     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

ment  of  the  Commission  on  Inter-Church  Federa- 
tions. 

Activities  of  the  National  Offices. 

The  following  attempt  to  indicate  something  of  the 
constant  activities  of  the  Federal  Council  is  based 
upon  the  report  of  the  General  Secretary  from  1912 
to  1916,  which  includes  the  reports  of  the  asso- 
ciate and  field  secretaries.  The  work  done  in  the 
name  of  the  various  commissions  is  recorded  in 
later  chapters. 

Various  memorials  were  conveyed  during  the 
quadrennium,  generally  by  personal  delegations  duly 
appointed,  including  a  message  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States  expressing  the  sympathy  and 
support  of  the  Council  at  the  beginning  of  his 
administration,  a  memorial  urging  the  recognition 
of  the  Republic  of  China  and  a  petition  for  adequate 
provision  for  the  religious  care  of  the  army  and 
navy.  In  April,  191 3,  the  Churches  of  Christ  in 
America  were  called  to  set  aside  Sunday,  April  27, 
as  a  Day  of  Prayer  for  China. 

Officers  of  the  Federal  Council  participated  in 
the  memorial  to  the  Czar  of  Russia  relative  to  the 
Beilis  case.  A  messenger  was  sent  to  the  Ameri- 
can Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  Judson  Centennial  Celebration  in  June, 
1914. 

Under  the  heading,  "Representative  Activities  of 
the  National  Office,"  were  the  setting  up  of  various 
movements,  including  the  Committee  of  One  Hun- 
dred for  Religious  Work  at  the  Panama  Pacific 
Exposition,  the  provision  of  a  delegation  from  the 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House     67 

Federal  Council  to  attend  the  Church  Peace  Con- 
ference at  Constance,  and  the  administration  of 
the  other  various  committees  authorized  by  the 
Council  and  the  Executive  Committee,  involving 
considerable  correspondence  and  travel  by  the  secre- 
tarial staff.  The  messages  of  the  Council  have  been 
sent  out  widely  to  its  constituency  of  100,000 
pastors,  including  the  Week  of  Prayer  call  and 
subjects,  year  by  year. 

The  General  Secretary  has  each  year  attended  the 
annual  assemblies  of  the  constituent  bodies,  pre- 
sented the  reports  of  the  Council,  consulted  with 
the  related  committees  of  these  assemblies,  and  has 
endeavored  to  maintain  appropriate  relationships 
between  the  Council  and  its  constituent  bodies,  sub- 
mitting all  its  actions  to  them  with  the  necessary 
explanations  and  interpretations,  and  in  addition, 
has  attended  many  of  the  state  and  local  confer- 
ences and  the  meetings  of  the  various  boards  and 
departments  of  the  constituent  bodies. 

The  national  office  and  its  secretaries  act  as  the 
co-ordinating  agencies  for  the  various  commissions 
of  the  Council,  keeping  each  acquainted  with  the 
activities  of  the  others,  in  the  effort  not  only  to 
stimulate  their  action  but  to  avoid  duplication  and 
confusion. 

The  office  is  also  engaged  in  cultivating  co-op- 
erative relationships  between  the  Federal  Council, 
its  commissions  and  other  appropriate  bodies,  such 
as  the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Cor- 
rection, the  Southern  Sociological  Congress,  the 
various  organizations  for  international  relations, 
the  National  Child  Labor  Committee,  the  American 


68    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

Red  Cross,  and  about  forty  or  fifty  other  bodies 
which  appropriately  look  to  the  churches  for  moral 
support  in  certain  of  their  endeavors. 

Constant    correspondence    is    maintained    with 
leaders  of  the  churches  in  practically  all  of  the 
nations  of  the  world.    The  office  has  a  regular  list 
of  foreign  correspondents  in  these  countries,  and 
endeavors  in  an  informal  way  to  develop  these  im- 
portant world  relationships.     Especially  since  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  correspondence  has  been  car- 
ried on  with  representative  leaders  of  the  churches 
in  both  the  neutral  and  warring  nations  in  Europe. 
The  office  has  been  the  headquarters  of  delegates 
from  the  Union  Nationale  des  Eglises  Reformees 
Evangeliques   de   France   and   the   Franco-Belgian 
Committee  on  Evangelism,  as  well  as  of  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Union  Church  in  the  Canal  Zone. 
In  December,   1915-January,   1916,  the  General 
Secretary  visited  the  Christian  leaders  in  Europe 
and  presented  a  full  report  of  his  visit  to  the  Coun- 
cil in  1916.     As  the  result  of  this  mission  many 
channels  have  been  opened  up  which  it  is  hoped 
may  ultimately  prove  useful  in  the  coming  days  of 
reconstruction.     The  national  office  has  been  the 
center  of  the  nationwide  war  relief  movement,  of 
the  committee  for  the  French  Protestant  Churches, 
the  American  Huguenot  Committee  and  the  Com- 
mittee on  Work  in  the  Canal  Zone.     The  General 
Secretary  is  the  Chairman  of  a  recently  constituted 
Committee  to   secure,   train  and   send  women  to 
France  for  work  in  rehabilitating  the  country,  espe- 
cially in  the  re-establishment  of  its  households  and 
the  care  of  mothers  and  children,  to  be  carried 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House     69 

on  in  France  under  the  direction  of  the  Franco- 
Belgian  Evangelization  Committee. 

The  Field  Secretary,  Rev.  Charles  Stelzle,  has 
been  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  economic  aspects 
of  the  liquor  problem,  is  organizing  a  Labor  Offi- 
cials' Temperance  Fellowship,  visited  in  1916,  for 
twelve  weeks,  sixty-nine  cities  in  conference  with 
pastors  and  Christian  leaders,  has  addressed  Sun- 
day afternoon  meetings  of  workingmen  and  con- 
ducted noonday  shop  campaigns. 

Mr.  Stelzle  is  frequently  called  upon  as  arbitrator 
in  industrial  disputes  and  is  generally  made  chair- 
man of  such  boards.  At  the  present  moment  he 
is  developing  a  campaign  for  the  conservation  of 
human  life,  which  includes  as  one  of  its  more  im- 
portant and  immediate  features  an  economic  temper- 
ance movement  which  will  be  more  fully  described 
in  the  chapter  relating  to  the  Commission  on 
Temperance. 

During  two  1  3ars  of  this  quadrennium  Rev.  E. 
M.  McConougl  y  rendered  service  as  assistant  to 
the  General  Secretary.  Miss  Caroline  W.  Chase  has 
been  the  Office  Director,  with  one  intermission  on 
account  of  family  duties,  since  191 1. 

Equipment  of  National  Offices. 

The  national  offices  of  the  Council  now  consist 
of  a  series  of  30  office  rooms  in  the  United  Chari- 
ties Building,  New  York,  occupying  the  capacity 
of  an  entire  floor  of  that  building;  commodious 
offices  in  the  Woodward  Building,  Washington,  D. 
C,  a  branch  office  of  the  Commission  on  the  Church 
and   Country   Life   in   the   Commercial    Building, 


70     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

Columbus,  Ohio,  and  branch  quarters  of  the  Com- 
mission on  Evangelism  in  Chicago. 

The  secretarial  force  is  as  follows:  the  general 
secretary,  the  field  secretary,  the  associate  secre- 
tary, the  secretary  of  the  Commission  on  Inter- 
national Justice  and  Goodwill,  the  Secretary  for 
Temperance  Work,  the  executive  secretary  and 
field  secretary  of  the  Commission  on  Inter-Church 
Federations,  three  secretaries  of  the  War  Commis- 
sion, and  the  assistant  secretary,  at  the  New  York 
office;  an  assistant  secretary  at  the  Washington 
office,  and  the  secretary  on  Country  Life  at  Colum- 
bus. The  other  commissions  have  only  voluntary 
or  part-time  secretarial  service. 

At  the  New  York  office  there  are  also  a  general 
office  director,  a  director  of  the  publication  and 
printing  department,  an  assistant  to  the  treasurer, 
and  a  force  of  secretaries,  stenographers,  clerks, 
and  assistants  numbering  at  the  present  time  about 
forty. 

The  national  offices  have  not  adequate  room,  and 
it  is  earnestly  to  be  hoped  that  the  committee  ap- 
pointed to  make  inquiry  and  report  regarding  an 
appropriate  building  may  find  a  speedy  opportunity 
for  progress.  The  offices  in  New  York  are  thor- 
oughly equipped  with  mechanical  apparatus,  and 
are  now  enabled  to  reach  the  entire  constituency 
with  communications  upon  very  short  notice.  The 
correspondence  of  the  office  is  large,  averaging 
over  one  hundred  letters  a  day. 

The  Library  of  Social  Service  and  Missions  con- 
tains about  3000  volumes,  and  about  500  current 
religious,  social  and  labor  papers  and  magazines. 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House     71 

During  the  past  quadrennium  the  Publication 
Department  issued  and  distributed  fourteen  bound 
volumes  and  served  as  the  distributing  agency  for 
several  other  volumes  incidentally  related  to  the 
work  of  the  Council.  There  were  also  distributed 
seven  volumes  of  annual  reports  and  nearly  one 
hundred  different  pieces  of  pamphlet  literature. 
Some  idea  of  the  work  of  the  printing  and  multi- 
graphing  department  may  be  gained  from  these 
figures :  the  average  has  been  about  225,000  letters 
a  year  for  the  Federal  Council  and  about  500,000 
letters  a  year  for  co-operating  bodies;  a  total  of 
about  775,000  per  year.  About  2,000,000  pamphlets 
and  leaflets  were  sent  out  of  the  shop  during  1916. 

The  Bureau  of  Religious  Publicity  has  been 
established  on  a  modest  scale,  but  promises  de- 
velopment as  fast  as  resources  may  be  found  for 
it  and  the  co-operation  secured  of  the  various  re- 
ligious agencies  required  for  its  success. 

In  addition  to  the  offices  in  New  York  the  Com- 
mission on  the  Church  and  Country  Life  maintains 
an  office  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  where  the  Secretary, 
Rev.  Charles  O.  Gill,  has  been  conducting  a  state- 
wide rural  survey.  The  Commission  on  Evangel- 
ism has  had  a  branch  office  in  Chicago  and  the 
Committee  on  the  Celebration  of  the  Four  Hun- 
dredth Anniversary  of  the  Reformation  has  its 
office  in  Philadelphia,  with  Rev.  Howard  R.  Gold 
as  the  Secretary. 

While  having  no  official  relationship  with  the 
national  offices,  there  are  now  in  about  22  cities 
offices  of  state  and  local  federations  of  churches, 


72     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

which  also  serve  in  large  measure  the  interests  of 
the  national  movement. 

It  may  be  worth  noting  that  during  the  quad- 
rennium  the  general  secretary  has  been  called  upon 
to  attend  about  250  conferences,  congresses,  and 
other  meetings  outside  those  of  the  Council  itself, 
at  which  he  has  delivered  about  225  addresses. 
During  the  quadrennium  he  has  been  in  every 
state  of  the  Union  except  four,  in  addition  to  at- 
tending conferences  in  Canada,  Europe,  Cuba,  and 
Panama.  The  Associate  and  Field  Secretaries  have 
the  similar  problem  of  maintaining  the  administra- 
tion of  their  departments  and  at  the  same  time 
engaging  in  wide  travel. 

Financial  operations. 

It  has  been  noted  that  during  this  quadrennium 
there  has  been  a  remarkable  increase  in  the  opera- 
tions and  staff  of  the  national  offices,  with,  of 
course,  a  like  increase  in  expenditure.  The  in- 
crease, however,  in  the  latter  item  has  been  for 
actual  work  in  the  field,  while  the  expenses  of  the 
central  administration  have  not  materially  changed. 
A  considerable  proportion  of  the  cost  has  been  for 
such  operations  as  the  war  relief  movement,  the 
relief  of  churches  abroad  and  similar  procedures. 
It  may  therefore  be  worth  while  to  note  the  follow- 
ing facts  regarding  economy  of  administration. 

The  Printing  and  Publication  Department  is  car- 
ried on  at  a  considerable  profit.  The  amounts 
secured  from  denominational  apportionments  ag- 
gregate only  about  $11,000.  The  centralization  of 
the    various    departments    in    the    office    of    one 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House    73 

treasurer,  who  serves  unselfishly  without  salary, 
enables  the  national  office  to  conduct  this  depart- 
ment at  an  administrative  cost  of  less  than  $1000 
a  year  for  clerical  service.  When  it  is  remembered 
that  the  amount  passing  through  the  treasurer's 
office  for  19 16  was  nearly  $300,000,  this  appears 
to  be,  as  the  Committee  of  Fifteen  reported, 
"remarkable  in  the  history  of  administration." 
Largely  through  the  careful  oversight  of  Mr.  Al- 
fred R.  Kimball,  who  has  served  as  treasurer  from 
the  beginning  of  the  Council,  and  even  before  that 
time,  and  the  stern  resolution  of  the  administra- 
tion for  several  years,  the  Council  has  not  had  any 
deficit.  This  economy  of  administration  through 
centralization  may  be  indicated  by  one  example. 
Before  the  work  of  the  Commission  on  Temper- 
ance was  united  with  that  of  the  National  Tem- 
perance Society  these  two  bodies  were  operating 
independently  but  doing  almost  precisely  the  same 
work.  Since  uniting  them,  the  combined  work  has 
been  very  much  greater  than  that  which  the  two 
were  previously  doing.  It  is,  however,  being  car- 
ried on  at  even  less  administrative  expense  than 
was  required  by  one  body  acting  independently. 
There  is,  moreover,  not  only  a  saving  of  admin- 
istrative expense,  but  also  in  all  operations  of  the 
combined  body  through  the  use  of  the  facilities  of 
the  national  office  of  the  Council,  the  entire  saving 
by  the  union  being  probably  about  $10,000  a  year. 
This  is  a  fair  example  of  the  waste  of  duplication 
and  also  of  the  economy  of  such  co-operation  as 
that  for  which  the  Federal  Council  stands.  We 
might  ask  the  further  question  regarding  the  work 


74     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

of  all  the  commissions.  How  much  more  would 
this  work  cost  if  the  denominations  and  their  boards 
were  all  pursuing  it  independently,  provided  that 
they  could  do  it  that  way,  instead  of  through  unity 
of  action? 

The  report  of  the  General  Secretary  in  Decem- 
ber, 1916,  concluded  as  follows: 

Summary  IQ12-IQ16. 

"Among  the  most  significant  matters  set  forth  by  this 
report  are  the  remarkably  rapid  and  providential  de- 
velopments of  our  international  relationships,  the  sys- 
tematic program  of  our  Commission  on  Interchurch 
Federations  for  the  development  of  our  much  neglected 
work  in  local  communities,  the  closer  association  of  our 
great  interdenominational  organizations,  and  the  prom- 
ise of  more  progress  in  the  direction  of  adequate  relig- 
ious publicity,  and  last  of  all  a  work  which  cannot  be 
set  forth  in  figures  or  words,  the  use  of  the  Federal 
Council  and  its  national  office  in  the  interests  of  great 
movements  which  need  to  reach  and  have  a  right  to 
reach  the  churches. 

"Another  thing  which  impresses  me  is  the  manner  in 
which  the  functions  of  the  Council  and  all  its  commis- 
sions are  being  determined,  not  so  much  by  the  formula- 
tion of  rules  and  the  determination  of  policy  as  by  con- 
crete experience  through  effective  but  cautious  proce- 
dure. Instead  of  an  administrative  committee  which 
attempts  to  do  everything  itself,  we  have  a  committee 
which  is  for  the  simpler  purpose  of  directing  the 
task  into  the  hands  of  those  who  may  do  it  best. 
This  was  illustrated  by  the  methods  with  regard  to 
religious  activities  at  the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition. 
There  can  be  no  other  method.  No  group  of  a  dozen 
men  sitting  in  New  York  can  undertake  to  perform  or 
immediately  direct  the  rapidly  growing  united  work  of 
our  evangelical  churches,  and  while  some  misunder- 
standing occasionally  arises,  I  think  it  is  becoming  clear 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House     75 

that  the  Federal  Council  must  be  primarily  considered 
as  the  sum  of  all  its  parts,  and  its  various  tasks  dele- 
gated and  distributed. 

"It  may  seem  strange  and  inconsistent  that  with  this 
rapid  growth  of  the  spirit  and  work  of  co-operation  we 
should  have,  in  some  quarters,  a  certain  amount  of  re- 
action in  the  direction  of  the  sectarian  spirit.  This, 
however,  as  I  estimate  it,  is  simply  a  natural  reaction.  I 
do  not  believe  that  it  is  going  to  embarrass  seriously  a 
work  which  is  so  manifestly  guided  by  the  spirit  of  God. 

"Constant  evidence  has  been  borne  in  upon  me  as  I 
witness  the  liberal  and  unmeasured  service  of  the  leaders 
of  our  denominations  who  compose  the  various  commit- 
tees of  the  Federal  Council.  They  approach  this  com- 
mon work  with  the  splendid  spirit  of  catholicity.  They 
make  a  fine  adjustment  between  denominational  and 
interdenominational  interests.  The  correspondence  of 
our  office  makes  it  clear  that  the  churches  and  the  pas- 
tors are  more  and  more  looking  to  the  Federal  Council 
to  express  their  common  consciousness,  and  to  solve  some 
of  the  problems  which  are  common  to  them  all.  This 
is  becoming  especially  true  of  the  correspondence  from 
rural  sections  and  other  places  where  economic  pressure 
is  serious.  As  we  face  the  world  situation  at  this  mo- 
ment, it  may  be  something  in  the  nature  of  a  discovery, 
to  realize  that  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of 
Christ  in  America  is  the  one  official  body  of  Christians 
inthe  world  that  is  acting  together  and  in  harmony  at 
this  moment.  The  conflict  in  Europe  has  separated  all 
other  bodies  of  Christians,  and  just  as  the  nations  are 
looking  to  our  nation  as  the  last  resource  for  them  all, 
so  may  the  Christian  churches  of  the  world  look  for 
light  and  leading  to  a  body  which  unites  the  forces  of 
American  Protestantism. 

"We  look  out  upon  a  world  in  moral  and  spiritual 
confusion,  the  one  inclusive  religious  body  in  that  world 
that  has  not  been  rent  asunder  by  the  conflict  across  the 
sea.  The  desolated  peoples  of  Europe  will  justly  look 
to  a  body  which  unites  the  forces  of  the  American  Pro- 


76     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

testant  churches  to  assume  a  large  responsibility  for 
those  processes  of  reconstruction  which  are  before  us. 
With  more  conviction  than  I  have  been  able  to  set 
forth  in  my  statement  of  facts  regarding  our  relationship 
with  the  churches  of  Europe,  I  want  again  to  express 
my  sense  of  hope  and  increasing  confidence  that  through 
this  relationship,  initiated  by  one  of  our  commissions, 
some  great  movements  will  come  during  the  next  six 
months.  I  am  not  sure  that  stricken  Europe  is  look- 
ing altogether  with  confidence  at  America  at  this  mo- 
ment, but  I  do  have  some  reason  to  believe,  as  the  result 
of  the  constant  interchange  of  messages  and  the  authentic 
information  which  I  have  received  from  time  to  time, 
that  not  only  the  religious  leaders  of  Europe  but  also 
some  of  her  statesmen  are  ready  to  look  with  confidence 
to  the  Christian  churches  of  America  and  to  believe  that 
what  international  statesmanship  and  diplomacy  could 
not  and  cannot  do,  may  be  done  by  moral  and  spiritual 
forces. 

"Never  since  the  Carnegie  Hall  meeting  in  1905,  has 
the  call  come  so  clearly  to  the  churches  of  America  to 
unite  their  many  forces  into  one  mighty  force.  Rever- 
ently and  humbly,  with  the  sense  of  solemnity  and  the 
spirit  of  hope,  I  believe  that  we  are  moving  by  the 
hand  of  God  to  do  'greater  things  than  these.'  " 

The  Federal  Office  of  the  Churches  at  the 
National  Capital 

After  long  consideration  and  much  discussion, 
and  with  some  interrogations,  the  office  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  was  established  in  February,  1914. 
It  is  perhaps  enough  to  say  that  the  activities  of 
that  office  at  the  present  moment  have  relieved  all 
doubts  as  to  the  providential  action  of  the  Council 
in  authorizing  it  and  the  Executive  Committee  in 
establishing  it. 

Under  the  administration  of  the  Associate  Secre- 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House    77 

tary,  Dr.  Henry  K.  Carroll,  and  since  the  earlier 
part  of  this  year  under  the  care  of  the  General 
Secretary  with  the  Associate  Secretary,  Dr.  Tippy, 
and  the  Assistant  Secretary,  Rev.  Clyde  F.  Armi- 
tage,  the  office  has  been  engaged  in  increasing 
activities.  First  of  all  was  the  confirmation  of  long 
and  patient  attempts  to  secure  the  increase  of 
chaplains  in  the  navy,  which  was  brought  to  a  suc- 
cessful conclusion  in  1914  through  the  earnest  ef- 
forts of  Dr.  Carroll  and  his  associates.  Since  that 
time  the  office  has  constantly  assisted  both  the  de- 
nominations and  the  War  and  Navy  Departments 
in  finding  suitable  candidates  for  appointment. 
Measures  in  Congress  for  legislation  in  behalf  of 
the  chaplains  have  been  effectively  prosecuted. 

The  incorporation  of  the  Council  was  secured 
under  the  laws  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  From 
the  Washington  Office  has  issued  each  year  the 
Annual  Bulletin  of  Church  Statistics  and  for  the 
past  two  years  the  Federal  Council  Year  Book. 

Investigations  have  been  made  and  reports  pre- 
pared, as,  for  example,  that  on  the  pensions  and 
pay  of  the  federal  clerks  prepared  for  the  Com- 
mission on  the  Church  and  Social  Service.  This 
office  was  the  headquarters  of  the  American  Peace 
Centenary  celebration  and  also  of  the  Committee 
on  Negro  Churches. 

In  addition  to  distinct  matters  of  this  kind  the 
office  serves  as  a  general  bureau  of  information 
for  the  constituent  bodies,  and  especially  for  the 
government  departments.  It  is  also  a  great  con- 
venience for  the  various  social  organizations  and 
movements  for  public  welfare  which  have  occasion 


78    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

to  call  for  the  help  of  the  churches.  The  Asso- 
ciate Secretary  visits  especially  the  ecclesiastical 
bodies  meeting  in  the  South. 

The  administration  of  the  office  is  in  charge  of 
the  Administrative  Committee  and  the  General  Sec- 
retary, co-operating  with  the  Washington  Com- 
mittee and  its  various  subcommittees.  At  the 
present  time,  in  addition  to  its  general  routine  work, 
the  Washington  office  has  received  from  the  De- 
partments of  War  and  Navy  all  of  the  applications 
for  chaplains,  and  serves  as  the  clearing  house  for 
the  denominational  committees  on  chaplaincies 
whose  chairmen  or  other  representatives  have  been 
organized  into  a  General  Committee  on  Chaplains. 
In  this  work  certain  denominational  bodies  not  in- 
cluded in  the  Federal  Council,  notably  the  Southern 
Baptist  Home  Mission  Board  and  certain  of  the 
Lutheran  bodies,  are  heartily  co-operating. 

The  nationwide  Red  Cross  campaign  among  the 
churches,  conducted  by  the  Commission  on  the 
Church  and  Social  Service  through  the  denomina- 
tional social  service  organizations,  was  also  carried 
on  from  the  office  in  Washington. 

These  special  activities  in  the  important  work  in 
relation  to  the  war,  in  addition  to  the  rapid  increase 
of  the  ordinary  routine  work  of  the  office  in  its 
capacity  as  a  general  clearing  house,  have  required 
such  additional  service  that  the  office  now  carries 
a  considerable  staff  of  assistants. 

The  correspondence  and  conference  required  in 
consultation  with  the  denominational  committees  to 
select  upwards  of  three  hundred  chaplains  out  of 
about  three  thousand  or  more  applications,  as  one 


Federal  Council  as  a  Clearing  House     79 

item,  will  indicate  the  extent  of  what  has  been 
termed  routine  activities.  It  is  also  increasingly 
becoming  the  meeting  place  of  various  committees 
of  the  Council  and  for  conference  on  the  part  of 
departments  and  committees  of  the  constituent  de- 
nominations. The  office  has  been  in  full  action 
during  the  summer  of  1917  with  the  Assistant  Secre- 
tary, Rev.  Clyde  F.  Armitage,  on  constant  duty. 

Not  to  seek  any  temporal  power  of  church  over 
state,  much  less  to  antagonize  any  other  Christian 
institution,  but  in  a  simple  and  natural  way  to  fullfil 
the  duty  of  the  churches  to  the  national  life,  and 
to  infuse  the  national  life  with  the  Christian  spirit, 
have  been  the  policies  of  the  Federal  office  of  the 
churches  at  the  National  capital. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  FOR  CHAPTER  III 

Origin  and  History  of  the  Federal  Council,  San- 
ford; — Church  Federation; — Federal  Council  of  the 
Churches ; — Christian  Unity  at  Work ; — The  Churches 
of  Christ  in  Council; — The  Churches  of  Christ  in 
Time  of  War. 

Report  of  Special  Meeting  at  Washington,  May, 
1917. 

Annual  Reports  1906  to  191 6. 


IV 


CHRISTIAN   CO-OPERATION   IN  UNIFIED 
ACTIVITIES 

SOME  account  has  been  given  of  the  central 
operations  of  the  Council  through  its  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  and  its  national  offices. 
The  larger  activities,  however,  are  conducted  by 
commissions.  As  now  constituted  these  commis- 
sions are  as  follows:  Inter-Church  Federations, 
Evangelism,  the  Church  and  Social  Service,  the 
Church  and  Country  Life,  Temperance,  Christian 
Education,  International  Justice  and  Goodwill,  and 
Relations  with  the  Orient. 

The  commissions  of  the  Council  are  appointed 
by  the  President,  but  are  made  up  from  two  sources, 
from  denominational  representatives  selected  from 
the  Boards,  Committees  or  Departments  of  the  con- 
stituent bodies,  to  whom  are  added  men  and  women 
who  are  considered  as  leaders  or  experts  in  these 
various  realms  of  activity,  each  commission  num- 
bering in  all  at  the  present  time  about  seventy-five 
members.  The  commissions  of  the  Council  are  set 
up  with  administrative  machinery  for  actual  service 
in  the  field  including  a  headquarters  and  admin- 
istrative secretaries. 

In  addition,  at  the  present  time  Committees  on 
Family  Life  and  Religious  Rest  Day,  Ministerial 
Relief   and   Sustentation   and   other   special   com- 

80 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     81 

mittees  are  under  appointment   for  immediate  or 
passing  needs. 

The  Committee  on  Foreign  Missions  serves 
mainly  to  keep  the  Council  in  touch  with  the  work 
of  the  Conference  of  Foreign  Mission  Boards  of 
North  America.  The  Home  Missions  Council  is  a 
co-operating  body  with  the  Federal  Council  and 
acts  for  the  Federal  Council  in  all  matters  relating 
to  home  missions,  in  consultation  with  the  Com- 
mittee on  Home  Missions. 

Evangelism 

A  Committee  on  Evangelism  which  had  been  ap- 
pointed by  the  Executive  Committee,  presented  its 
first  report  to  the  quadrennial  meeting  at  Chicago 
in  1912,  setting  forth  in  clear  and  unmistakable 
terms  the  evangelistic  mission  of  the  churches,  the 
neglect  of  this  mission  and  the  resultant  situation 
in  the  United  States.  The  report  then  gave  an 
historical  review  of  the  effects  of  true  revivals  of 
religion,  presenting  in  closing  a  co-operative  plan 
establishing  the  Commission  on  Evangelism  as  a 
permanent  commission  of  the  Council,  providing 
for  its  administration  and  methods  of  work,  all  of 
which  were  approved  by  the  Council. 

The  Commission  presented  a  full  report  at  the 
quadrennial  meeting  at  St.  Louis  in  1916  which 
brought  about  considerable  discussion.  It  was  re- 
ferred back  to  the  Business  Committee  and  to  the 
Commission  for  several  changes,  including  espe- 
cially the  request  for  larger  emphasis  on  personal 
evangelism  and  provision  for  variety  of  method  in 
conducting  evangelistic  movements. 


82     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

The  Commission  reported  that  it  had  held  four 
meetings  during  the  quadrennium.  Its  first  effort 
had  been  to  secure  in  every  denomination  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  special  committee  on  Evangelism, 
and  it  was  reported  that  twenty  of  the  constituent 
bodies  had  appointed  such  committees,  which  were 
working  in  co-operation  with  the  Commission.  A 
Committee  on  Literature  had  issued  something  over 
a  dozen  booklets  and  pamphlets,  including  a  bib- 
liography of  Evangelism  containing  a  list  of  some 
three  hundred  books  which  had  been  gathered  into 
a  reference  library  at  the  Chicago  office  of  the 
Commission. 

The  current  criticism  of  evangelism  and  evan- 
gelistic methods  was  considered  frankly  in  the 
report,  which,  however,  laid  the  responsibility  for 
the  situation  back  upon  the  churches.  The  Com- 
mission proposed  a  method  of  careful  credentializ- 
ing  by  denominational  bodies  whereby  reasonably 
safe  men  might  be  assured. 

A  standard  of  principles  had  been  adopted  by 
the  Commission,  which  dealt  freely  with  the  inap- 
propriate and  unethical  methods  which  had  been 
the  subject  of  criticism,  urging  larger  use  of  the 
evangelistic  appeal  and  method  in  the  Sunday 
school  and  in  the  parish.  A  nationwide  evangelistic 
movement  was  proposed  which  was  approved  by 
the  Council,  in  spirit,  without  the  commitment  of 
the  Council  to  particular  methods  by  which  it 
should  be  carried  out.  The  recommendations  of 
the  Commission  included  the  mutual  exchange  of 
all  evangelistic  literature  between  the  denomina- 
tional committees  and  the  organization  of  co-op- 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     83- 

erative  evangelistic  committees  in  districts,  confer- 
ences and  synods. 

The  Council  approved  the  recommendation  of  the 
Committee  of  Fifteen  that  the  Commission  on 
Evangelism  should  look  toward  effective  organiza- 
tion and  develop  its  resources  in  order  to  fully 
meet  its  tasks  and  opportunities.  The  Chairman 
of  the  Commission  was  Rev.  William  H.  Roberts 
and  the  Secretary  Rev.  William  E.  Biederwolf. 
The  Chairman  for  the  present  quadrennium  is 
Rev.  Charles  L.  Goodell. 

That  the  evangelistic  spirit  may  be  fostered,  that 
evangelistic  methods  may  be  best  determined,  that 
evangelistic  power  may  be  multiplied  by  all  the 
churches  taking  counsel  and  action  together  have 
been  the  underlying  assumptions  of  this  Commis- 
sion. 

Social  Service 

The  Commission  on  the  Church  and  Social 
Service  was  instituted  by  the  Council  in  1908  to 
succeed  the  previous  Committee  on  the  Church  and 
Modern  Industry  whose  Chairman,  Rev.  Frank 
Mason  North,  was  continued. 

At  the  quadrennial  meeting  in  Philadelphia  in 
1908  the  Committee  had  presented  perhaps  the  most 
striking  and  significant  report  entitled,  uThe  Church 
and  Modern  Industry,"  including  the  statement  of 
social  principles  which  has  since  become  almost  a 
classic  in  the  world  of  social  redemption  and  which, 
in  the  form  in  which  it  was  readopted  in  Chicago  in 
1912  and  in  which  it  now  stands,  is  as  follows: 

I.  Equal  rights  and  justice  for  all  men  in  all  sta- 
tions of  life. 


84     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

II.  Protection  of  the  family  by  the  single  standard 
of  purity,  uniform  divorce  laws,  proper  regula- 
tion of  marriage,  proper  housing. 

III.  The  fullest  possible  development  of  every  child, 
especially  by  the  provision  of  education  and 
recreation. 

IV.  Abolition  of  child  labor. 

V.  Such  regulation  of  the  conditions  of  toil   for 
women  as  shall  safeguard  the  physical  and  moral 
health  of  the  community. 
VI.  Abatement  and  prevention  of  poverty. 
VII.  Protection  of  the  individual  and  society  from 
the  social,  economic  and  moral  waste  of  the 
liquor  traffic. 
VIII.  Conservation  of  health. 
IX.  Protection  of  the  worker  from  dangerous  ma- 
chinery, occupational  diseases  and  mortality. 
X.  The  right  of  all  men  to  the  opportunity  for  self- 
maintenance,  for  safeguarding  this  right  against 
encroachments  of  every  kind,  for  the  protection 
of  workers  from  the  hardships  of  enforced  un- 
employment. 
XI.  Suitable  provision  for  the  old  age  of  the  workers, 
and  for  those  incapacitated  by  injury. 
XII.  The  right  of  employees  and  employers  alike  to 
organize;  and  for  adequate  means  of  concilia- 
tion and  arbitration  in  industrial  disputes. 

XIII.  Release  from  employment  one  day  in  seven. 

XIV.  Gradual  and  reasonable  reduction  of  hours  of 
labor  to  the  lowest  practicable  point,  and  for 
that  degree  of  leisure  for  all  which  is  a  condition 
of  the  highest  human  life. 

XV.  A  living  wage  as  a  minimum  in  every  industry, 
and  for  the  highest  wage  that  each  industry  can 
afford. 
XVI.  A  new  emphasis  upon  the  application  of  Chris- 
tian principles  to  the  acquisition  and  use  of 
property,  and  for  the  most  equitable  division  of 
the  product  of  industry  that  can  ultimately  be 
ctevised. 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     85 

The  Commission  on  the  Church  and  Social 
Service  immediately  proceeded  to  carry  out  the  reso- 
lutions of  the  1908  Committee,  Rev.  Charles  Stelzle 
rendering  voluntary  administrative  and  executive 
service  as  secretary.  During  the  quadrennium  from 
1908  to  19 12  Committees  on  Propaganda  and  Re- 
search prosecuted  their  work  with  unusual  effective- 
ness. Literature  was  distributed  in  large  quanti- 
ties. Mr.  Stelzle  served  as  fraternal  delegate  to  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  each  year  and  Labor 
Sunday  was  widely  observed. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  operation  during 
this  preliminary  period  was  the  investigation  of  the 
steel  industry  at  South  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  the  report 
of  which  was  considered  as  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant utterances  on  the  industrial  situation  that 
had  been  made  up  to  that  time  by  the  Church. 

The  work  of  the  Commission  developed  so  rapidly 
that  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Council  in 
January,  191 1,  authorized  the  election  of  an  ad- 
ministrative secretary,  to  which  position  Rev. 
Charles  S.  Macfarland  was  elected  shortly  after. 
Offices  were  opened  in  connection  with  the  Federal 
Council  and  Miss  Caroline  W.  Chase  was  called 
from  the  offices  of  the  American  Baptist  Foreign 
Mission  Society  in  Boston  as  private  secretary  and 
assistant.  The  year  191 1  was  largely  formative  in 
the  work  of  the  Commission  and  in  December  of 
that  year  the  Secretary  of  the  Commission  was 
requested  to  assume  the  administrative  work  of  the 
Federal  Council  itself. 

During  the  year  1912  the  work  was  carried  out 
mainly  by  co-operative  service  on  the  part  of  the 


86     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

denominational  social  service  secretaries,  Rev. 
Henry  A.  Atkinson,  Rev.  Frank  M.  Crouch,  Rev. 
Samuel  Z.  Batten,  Rev.  Charles  Stelzle  and  Rev. 
Harry  F.  Ward,  Associate  Secretaries  of  the  Com- 
mission. Indeed  the  outstanding  work  of  that  year 
was  the  effective  co-operative  relation  established 
between  the  social  service  departments  of  the  Con- 
gregational, Baptist,  Presbyterian,  Protestant  Episco- 
pal, and  Methodist  bodies.  Two  interdenomina- 
tional conferences  were  held,  in  Boston  and 
Chicago. 

The  development  of  the  Federal  Council  Com- 
mission served  to  stimulate  the  denominational  de- 
partments and  new  denominational  committees 
were  appointed.  Close  relationships  were  estab- 
lished between  the  Commission  and  such  organiza- 
tions as  the  Playground  and  Recreation  Association 
of  America,  the  National  Child  Labor  Committee, 
the  American  Association  for  Labor  Legislation, 
the  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correc- 
tion, and  other  similar  social  organizations. 

Literature  was  produced  and  widely  distributed. 
Industrial  investigation  was  made  at  Muscatine, 
Iowa,  a  One-Day  in  Seven  campaign  initiated  in 
behalf  of  industrial  workers,  the  observance  of 
Labor  Sunday  made  general,  and,  largely  through 
the  field  work  and  the  campaigns  of  social  evangel- 
ism on  the  part  of  the  denominational  secretaries, 
the  field  was  cultivated. 

The  report  of  the  Commission  to  the  quadrennial 
meeting  at  Chicago,  while  in  no  way  an  advance 
on  that  of  the  1908  report  of  the  Committee  on 
the   Church   and   Modern   Industry   so   far   as   in- 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     87 

dtistrial  relations  were  concerned,  took  a  wider 
sweep  and  set  forth  in  larger  measure  and  in  deeper 
terms,  perhaps,  the  social  mission  of  the  churches. 

The  Commission's  report  to  the  Council  in  De- 
cember, 1916,  indicated  progress.  During  the  quad- 
rennium  a  special  committee  had  been  appointed  on 
the  Church  and  Country  Life  which  had  now  become 
a  full  fledged  Commission  on  the  Church  and 
Country  Life,  with  an  executive  secretary.  In  in- 
dustrial relations,  the  campaign  for  One  Day  in 
Seven  had  been  prosecuted  through  six  hundred 
representatives  in  various  states ;  fraternal  delegates 
had  attended  the  annual  sessions  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor,  including  the  President  of  the 
Council,  Shailer  Mathews;  the  meetings  of  the 
National  Women's  Trade  Union  League  had  been 
attended  by  representatives  of  the  Commission  as 
fraternal  delegates;  industrial  investigations  had 
been  made  at  Paterson,  N.  J.,  Lawrence,  Mass., 
Gloversville,  N.  Y.,  and  in  the  states  of  Michigan 
and  Colorado. 

The  Commission  had  developed  its  co-operative 
relations  with  the  various  social  organizations  to 
an  increasing  number.  During  the  quadrennium 
the  Year  Book  of  the  Church  and  Social  Service 
had  been  issued,  presenting  a  comprehensive  view 
of  the  social  work  of  all  the  churches.  The  de- 
nominational secretaries,  acting  in  their  capacity  as 
associate  secretaries  of  the  Federal  Council  Com- 
mission, had  been  working  with  constantly  increas- 
ing co-operation. 

During  this  quadrennium  the  most  notable  work 
of    the    Commission   was    the    stimulation    of   de- 


88     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

nominational  organization  followed  by  the  bringing 
of  the  denominational  committees  into  co-operative 
relationships.  The  administration  of  the  Commis- 
sion was  strengthened  in  1916  by  the  election  of 
Rev.  Charles  Stelzle  as  Field  Secretary  of  the 
Federal  Council  for  Special  Service.  The  Chair- 
man of  the  Commission  during  this  period  was 
Rev.  Josiah  Strong,  upon  whose  death  the  Commis- 
sion took  appropriate  action. 

The  report  of  1916  was  again  an  advance  upon 
its  previous  reports  in  its  statement  of  principles 
and  social  standards,  its  recommendations  and 
plans  for  wider  education  in  social  service,  its 
treatment  of  the  question  of  unemployment,  hous- 
ing, recreation,  defeat  of  commercialized  vice, 
prison  reform,  and  the  equal  status  of  women. 
The  section  upon  industrial  conditions  dealt  fear- 
lessly with  the  questions  of  overwork,  a  living 
wage,  the  unequal  distribution  of  wealth  and  in- 
dustrial disputes,  closing  with  a  statesmanlike  set- 
ting forth  of  the  underlying  principles  of  an 
industrial  democracy.  "In  these  and  all  other  fields 
of  social  progress,  the  church  must  constantly 
urge  its  members  to  support  concrete  measures 
which  serve  these  higher  ends.  But  it  also  has  a 
higher  task.  Its  supreme  social  function  is  to  edu- 
cate the  community  in  the  fundamental  spiritual 
principles  which  underlie  these  movements,  to  up- 
hold the  ideals  by  which  they  are  conceived,  to 
develop  the  atmosphere  in  which  they  are  born,  the 
individuals  who  will  carry  them  to  maturity,  and 
the  spiritual  power  which  will  make  them  effective." 

These  words  at  the  conclusion  of  the  report,  far 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     89 

more  than  those  activities  which  can  be  enumerated, 
indicate  the  service  rendered  by  this  commission. 

The  St.  Louis  Council  having  approved  the 
recommendation  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen,  that 
this  Commission  should  proceed  to  larger  develop- 
ment, the  Commission  in  the  early  part  ">f  the  year 
19 17  elected  its  acting  chairman,  Rev.  Worth  M. 
Tippy,  as  Executive  Secretary,  and  subsequently, 
Rev.  Clyde  F.  Armitage  was  elected  as  Assistant 
Secretary  and  Miss  Grace  Sims  as  Office  Secretary. 

At  the  time  of  writing,  the  work  of  the  Commis- 
sion is  largely  that  of  co-operation  with  the  Federal 
Council  in  the  measures  projected  on  account  of 
the  war.  The  Commission  is  carrying  on  an  ef- 
fective campaign  in  behalf  of  the  Red  Cross,  and 
for  Labor  Sunday  of  September,  1917,  has  issued 
a  striking  and  timely  message  to  the  churches  urg- 
ing that  the  social  ideals  of  the  churches  be  applied 
to  labor  problems  in  time  of  war. 

The  secretaries  and  denominational  associate 
secretaries  of  the  Commission  had  a  large  part  in 
preparing  the  section  of  the  Federal  Council  mes- 
sage which  issued  from  the  Washington  meeting 
in  May,  191 7,  relating  to  Christian  duties  in  con- 
serving the  social,  moral  and  spiritual  forces  of 
the  nation.  At  the  present  moment  measures  are 
being  taken  for  the  conservation  of  industrial  and 
social  standards  in  order  that  they  may  not  be 
shaken  but  rather  strengthened  in  time  of  national 
conflict. 

Temperance 

The  Commission  on  Temperance  had  for  its 
chairman  for  eight  years  Rev.  Rufus  W.  Miller. 


90     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

For  the  present  quadrennium  Governor  Carl  E. 
Milliken  of  Maine  serves  as  the  chairman,  and  Dr. 
Miller  is  the  chairman  of  the  Joint  Executive 
Committee. 

During  the  first  quadrennium  the  service  of  this 
Commission  was  mainly  that  of  securing  co-opera- 
tion between  the  temperance  departments  and  com- 
mittees of  the  several  denominations  and  the  ap- 
pointment of  committees  in  those  which  had  not 
previously  had  them.  The  report  to  the  Council 
of  1912  was  largely  a  record  of  temperance  advance 
in  general,  but  especially  as  it  related  to  the  senti- 
ment and  activity  of  the  churches.  The  Commis- 
sion had  stimulated  especially  the  use  of  temperance 
lessons  in  the  Sunday  school  and  temperance  litera- 
ture for  the  young.  In  order  to  meet  an  obvious 
demand  all  organizations  and  societies  soliciting  the 
support  of  the  churches  were  requested  to  file  with 
the  Commission  an  annual  report  including  a  de- 
tailed financial  statement,  the  recommendation 
being  that  any  temperance  organization  failing  to 
do  this  should  not  expect  commendation  or  sup- 
port from  the  churches. 

The  report  to  the  Council  in  191 6  was  one  of 
greatly  increased  activities.  The  Commission  had 
maintained  two  offices,  one  at  Pittsburgh  and  one 
in  Philadelphia,  the  former  in  charge  of  the  Secre- 
tary, Professor  Charles  Scanlon,  of  the  Presby- 
terian Board  of  Temperance.  A  large  number  of 
mass  meetings  had  been  held  in  the  interest  of 
pledge  signing,  at  which  many  thousands  of  total 
abstainers'  pledges  had  been  signed.  The  Commis- 
sion had  prepared  and  distributed  a  textbook  for 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     91 

young  people's  societies  entitled  "Temperance 
Facts,"  and  published  and  circulated  considerable 
other  literature.  A  National  Temperance  Union 
had  been  formed  with  an  Advisory  Committee  of 
about  one  hundred  statesmen  and  leaders  in  the 
social,  educational,  religious  and  scientific  world, 
under  the  directorate  of  Albert  R.  Rogers.  The 
work  of  the  denominational  departments  had  in- 
creased and  several  new  committees  had  been 
formed.  The  report  included  a  review  of  temper- 
ance education  and  a  striking  statement  prepared 
by  Rev.  Charles  Stelzle  on  the  Economic  Aspects 
of  the  Liquor  Question  to  which  Mr.  Stelzle  had 
given  two  years  of  earnest  study.  The  Chairman 
of  the  Commission,  Dr.  Miller,  had  served  by  ap- 
pointment of  the  President  of  the  United  States 
as  an  official  delegate  from  this  country  to  the 
World's  Congress  on  Alcoholism  at  Milan. 

At  the  time  of  the  presentation  of  the  report  the 
Commission  was  in  conference  with  the  National 
Temperance  Society  and  Publication  House  looking 
toward  uniting  the  forces  of  the  two  bodies. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1917,  this  union 
took  place  under  the  name  of  the  National  Tem- 
perance Society  and  Commission  on  Temperance 
of  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ 
in  America.  Offices  and  a  salesroom  were  opened 
in  the  United  Charities  Building  in  association  with 
the  offices  of  the  Federal  Council.  A  joint  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  was  formed  and  Rev.  Charles 
S.  Macfarland  was  elected  Acting  Executive  Secre- 
tary until  such  time  as  a  Secretary  should  be  found 
to  give  his  entire  time  to  this  work. 


92     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

Rev.  Charles  Stelzle  was  elected  as  Field  Secre- 
tary, Miss  Annie  E.  Oldrey,  Editor  and  Office 
Director,  and  Rev.  E.  W.  Rankin  as  Business 
Manager.  The  movements  actually  in  operation  at 
the  time  of  writing  are  as  follows : 

(i)  The  raising  of  a  $i, 000,000  "Strengthen  Amer- 
ica" fund  for  paid  advertising  in  daily  and  weekly 
newspapers  throughout  the  country  as  a  cam- 
paign of  education,  especially  with  regard  to  the 
physical  and  moral  waste  of  the  liquor  traffic  and 
the  need  of  saving  the  country  from  it  in  the 
present  crisis; 

(2)  The  initiation  of  and  co-operation  in  a  united 
movement  on  the  part  of  all  temperance  organi- 
zations under  the  name  of  "The  United  Com- 
mittee on  War  Temperance  Activities  in  the 
Army  and  Navy,"  of  which  Rev.  H.  H.  Gill 
was  elected  Executive  Secretary ; 

(3)  A  campaign  of  advertising,  sometimes  including 
advertisements  covering  two  full  pages  in  the 
Washington  newspapers,  meeting  the  arguments 
presented  by  the  liquor  forces  in  the  same  papers ; 

(4)  Advertisements  and  propaganda  in  the  labor 
papers  of  the  United  States  to  induce  the  support 
of  workingmen; 

(5)  The  holding  of  mass  meetings  and  open  forums 
in  workingmen's  districts; 

(6)  A  movement  to  induce  all  college  and  university 
alumni  associations  and  college  classes  to  refrain 
from  serving  intoxicating  liquor  at  reunions  and 
banquets ; 

(7)  A  movement  to  induce  society  women  to  abstain 
from  the  personal  use  and  serving  of  intoxicants 
at  social  functions ; 

(8)  The  inducement  of  trade  unionists  to  entirely 
separate  their  meeting  places  from  the  influence 
of  the  saloon; 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     93 

(9)  The  printing  and  distribution  of  a  wide  variety 
of  temperance  literature; 

(10)  The  service  of  a  staff  of  temperance  experts  for 
community  use; 

(11)  The   issuing  of  four  temperance  periodicals  as, 
follows : 

The  National  Advocate,  which  is  the  oldest 
temperance  paper  in  the  United  States,  published 
monthly,  for  pastors  and  general  readers,  under 
the  expert  editorship  of  Dr.  A.  A.  Hopkins; 

The  Worker,  a  temperance  paper  for  work- 
ingmen,  edited  by  Mr.  Stelzle; 

The  Youth's  Temperance  Banner,  a  temper- 
ance Youth's  Companion,  edited  by  Miss 
Oldrey; 

The  Water  Lily,  a  children's  temperance 
paper,  edited  by  Miss  Oldrey. 

Of  the  National  Advocate  it  may  now  be  said 
that  as  a  constant  review  of  all  temperance  measures 
and  methods  it  is  the  best  temperance  paper  pub- 
lished. 

Six  of  the  denominational  secretaries  of  temper- 
ance boards  giving  their  entire  time  to  the  work, 
serve  as  associate  secretaries  of  the  organization. 

This  remarkable  union  of  the  oldest  temperance 
society  in  the  nation  with  what  may  be  said  to  be 
the  largest  and  most  inclusive  organization,  was 
largely  brought  about  through  the  influence  and 
earnest  service  of  Rev.  D.  Stuart  Dodge,  President 
of  the  National  Temperance  Society,  in  response  to 
the  initiative  of  the  Commission. 

That  there  are  other  agencies  which  may  more 
appropriately  and  effectively  promote  temperance 
legislation  and  certain  aspects  of  education,  is  not 
to  be  doubted.     But  it  surely  is  the  part  of  the 


94     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

Christian  church  to  be  the  leading  force,  the  great 
educational  influence  and  the  inspirational  guide  of 
this  great  movement  of  the  age  and  this  it  cannot 
do  except  by  concerted  action,  such  as  has  now 
been  so  effectively  begun  by  this  commission,  and 
these  functions  of  the  Federal  Council  are  now 
approved  and  welcomed  by  the  Temperance  or- 
ganizations and  forces. 

Christian  Education 

One  of  the  most  striking  reports  to  the  first 
Council  in  1908  was  that  on  Weekday  Instruction 
in  Religion,  presented  by  Rev.  George  U.  Wenner, 
as  the  result  of  which  many  practical  experiments 
are  now  being  tried  in  this  important  interest.  The 
original  Committee  on  Literature  and  Education  of 
which  Pres.  George  B.  Stewart  was  chairman, 
reported  again  on  this  matter  to  the  Council  of 
19 1 2.  In  connection  with  that  Council  the  Com- 
mission brought  together  for  the  first  time  a  largely 
attended  and  widely  representative  conference  of 
representatives  of  theological  seminaries  which  ap- 
pointed a  joint  commission  with  the  Federal  Coun- 
cil, to  make  a  survey  and  report  on  Instruction  in 
Social,  Industrial  and  Allied  Subjects. 

On  the  matter  of  Weekday  Instruction  in  Re- 
ligion conference  had  been  held  with  the  National 
Education  Association  and  other  similar  bodies. 

During  the  quadrennium  from  1912  to  1916  the 
Commission  developed  its  activities  under  the 
chairmanship  of  Dean  Wilbur  F.  Tillett,  with  Rev. 
Henry  H.  Meyer  as  secretary,  and  its  report  to  the 
Council  of  19 16  constituted  a  complete  volume  of 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     95 

about  two  hundred  pages.  That  portion  of  the 
report  referring  to  weekday  religious  instruction  has 
since  been  enlarged  by  its  writer,  Rev.  Benjamin 
S.  Winchester,  the  present  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mission, to  a  significant  volume  entitled  "Religious 
Education  and  Democracy." 

Valuable  surveys  were  presented  in  the  report  on 
Christian  Education  in  the  Home  and  the  report 
on  Social  Teaching  in  Theological  Seminaries  was 
also  included. 

The  Commission  had  held  four  meetings  during 
the  quadrennium.  It  had  worked  for  larger  co- 
operation between  related  bodies,  the  Sunday 
School  Council  of  Evangelical  Denominations,  the 
Council  of  Church  Boards  of  Education,  the  Inter- 
national Sunday  School  Lesson  Committee,  the 
Missionary  Education  Movement,  and  the  World's 
Sunday  School  Association. 

Committees  had  given  attention  to  the  utilization 
of  the  public  press  in  the  interests  of  Christian 
Education  and  the  previous  work  relative  to  Week- 
day Instruction  had  been  continued. 

One  outstanding  measure  related  to  instruction 
in  churches  and  colleges  in  the  matter  of  Interna- 
tional Peace.  Two  series  of  lessons  for  Sunday 
schools  and  other  classes  had  been  prepared  en- 
titled "International  Peace — A  Study  in  Christian 
Fraternity,"  together  with  a  selected  bibliography. 
These  lessons  were  used  by  the  School  Peace 
League  of  America  and  many  other  bodies.  The 
lessons  were  published  in  the  Sunday  school 
quarterlies  of  six  denominations  with  a  combined 
total  circulation  of  2,000,000  copies,  and  in  addition 


96     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

several  of  the  denominations  had  issued  imprinted 
editions  of  these  lessons.  They  were  also  trans- 
lated into  German  and  published  in  several  German 
periodicals.  A  Handbook  to  accompany  them  was 
prepared,  entitled  "Selected  Quotations  on  Peace 
and  War,"  which  is  probably  the  most  comprehen- 
sive volume  of  the  kind  in  existence. 

In  connection  with  the  Council  of  1916  a  second 
conference  was  held  of  representatives  of  theo- 
logical seminaries. 

The  following  important  action  was  taken  at  a 
conference  of  representatives  of  those  concerned: 

"Recommended,  That  the  Federal  Council  authorize 
and  request  the  Commission  on  Christian  Education,  in 
conference  with  the  administrative  committee  of  the 
Federal  Council  and  with  the  officers  of  the  agencies 
hereby  affected,  to  invite  the  various  officially  consti- 
tuted interdenominational  organizations  engaged  in  re- 
ligious educational  work  at  their  early  mutual  con- 
venience to  meet  in  joint  session,  for  the  purpose  of 
canvassing  the  interrelationships  of  their  several  tasks 
and  the  possibilities  of  closer  co-ordination  of  inter- 
church  activities  in  this  field." 

The  Federal  Council,  at  the  quadrennial  meeting 
in  191 6,  also  received  a  communication  from  the 
International  Sunday  School  Association  indicating 
a  desire  for  such  co-operative  relationship  between 
the  two  bodies  as  might  be  appropriate  and  ef- 
fective, and  this  has  been  referred  to  the  Commis- 
sion on  Christian  Education. 

In  view  of  the  large  number  of  official  or  semi- 
official bodies  representing  the  churches  in  the  gen- 
eral field  of   Christian   Education,   the   following 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     97 

recommendation  was  made  to  the  Council  by  the 
Committee  of  Fifteen: 

"We  recommend  that  the  Commission  on  Christian 
Education  be  continued  under  its  present  constitutional 
provisions,  but  that  this  commission  should  seek  its  de- 
velopment primarily  by  furthering  co-operative  relation- 
ships between  the  various  movements  and  organizations 
which  represent  the  evangelical  churches  in  the  realm  of 
religious  education,  such  as  the  Sunday  School  Council 
of  Evangelical  Denominations,  the  Council  of  Church 
Boards  of  Education,  the  International  Sunday  School 
Lesson  Committee,  and  other  similar  interchurch  or- 
ganizations, and  by  placing  its  organization  and  facilities 
at  the  service  of  these  bodies.  We  confidently  express 
the  belief  that,  while  continuing  to  recognize  specific 
tasks  in  Christian  education,  the  evangelical  churches 
should  have  one  combined  Council  on  Christian  Edu- 
cation. We,  therefore,  urge  that  this  commission  invite 
the  fullest  co-operation  in  this  endeavor." 

Conferences  are  now  being  held  and  it  is  hoped 
that  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee  of 
Fifteen  may  be  found  advisable  and  feasible.  Dur- 
ing the  year  191 7  the  Commission  has  undertaken 
several  new  movements,  has  secured  the  publication 
of  the  enlarged  section  of  its  report  in  the  volume 
to  which  reference  has  been  made,  "Religious  Edu- 
cation and  Democracy,"  and  is  especially  engaged  at 
the  present  moment  in  an  effort  to  adjust  its  work  to 
the  needs  of  the  war  situation,  and  is  continuing 
its  studies  in  relation  to  the  question  of  Interna- 
tional Justice  and  Goodwill.  Another  important 
movement  is  an  effort  to  arrange  for  regular  lecture- 
ships and  courses  on  Federation  in  the  curricula 
of  theological  seminaries  and  other  institutions  of 
higher  education. 


98     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

That  the  work  of  Christian  Education  is  a  com- 
mon task  of  all  the  evangelical  churches,  even  in- 
cluding theological  education  with  some  variations, 
has  become  almost  a  commonplace  in  the  foreign 
field.  And  the  same  conditions  in  our  own  civiliza- 
tion at  home,  our  principle  of  separation  of 
church  and  state,  which  so  largely  tends  to  ob- 
scure religion  in  our  national  education,  surely 
call  for  mutual  counsel  and  for  common  action  by 
all  of  the  churches  of  Christ  in  America. 

Family  Life  and  Religious  Rest  Day 
Family  Life:  The  Council  has  now  a  combined 
Committee  on  Family  Life  and  Religious  Rest  Day, 
of  which  Rev.  Finis  S.  Idleman  is  chairman,  ap- 
pointed mainly  for  the  purpose  of  survey  and  report 
and  recommendation  to  the  churches,  which  takes 
the  place  of  the  former  Commissions  on  Family 
Life  and  on  Sunday  Observance. 

The  original  Committee  on  Family  Life  had  as 
its  chairman  Bishop  William  C.  Doane,  who  was 
succeeded  during  the  first  quadrennium  by  Rev. 
George  P.  Eckman.  The  report  to  the  quadrennial 
meeting  of  1912  was  entitled  aThe  Preservation  of 
the  Home,"  and  dealt  largely  with  the  subject  of 
divorce.  The  report  of  the  Committee  was  sub- 
jected to  earnest  discussion  and  several  important 
changes  were  made  in  it.  It  closed  with  recom- 
mendations, which  were  approved,  expressing  a 
deep  sense  of  sanctity  of  the  marriage  relations  and 
the  integrity  of  the  family,  the  conviction  that  the 
only  final  source  of  doctrine  and  duty  on  the  sub- 
ject of  marriage  and  divorce  was  to  be  found  in 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     99 

the  teachings  of  Scripture,  deploring  the  existence 
of  the  industrial,  economic  and  social  conditions 
which  affected  the  home,  the  demoralizing  vices 
finding  their  expression  in  the  statutes  of  many 
states  of  the  Union  and  the  ideals  determining  the 
conduct  of  many  of  the  people  on  the  whole  sub- 
ject of  marriage  and  divorce,  urging  proper  quali- 
fications, both  physical  and  moral,  of  those  con- 
templating marriage,  as  the  proper  conditions  on 
which  it  should  receive  the  sanction  of  the  church. 

The  report  of  the  Commission  on  Family  Life  to 
the  Council  of  1916  prepared  by  the  Chairman,  Dr. 
Eckman,  in  association  with  other  members  of  the 
Commission,  was  a  most  valuable  study  and  survey 
of  the  family  institution,  marriage  and  the  birth 
rate,  divorce,  the  attitude  of  the  churches  on  divorce 
and  remarriage,  the  spiritual  basis  of  marriage  and 
divorce,  and  correctives.  The  report  proceeded  to 
consider  family  life  as  affected  by  current  con- 
ditions, the  disintegration  of  family  solidarity,  the 
modern  industrial  situation,  the  higher  education 
of  women,  the  feminist  propaganda,  the  decline  of 
family  religion,  the  social  evil,  and  the  correctives 
to  these  evils.  Its  recommendations,  approved  by 
the  Council,  were  a  revival  of  religious  instruction 
in  the  home  and  the  maintenance  of  family  wor- 
ship, a  crusade  against  the  marriage  of  the  unfit, 
the  instruction  and  stimulation  of  parents  regard- 
ing such  instruction  as  they  should  give  their 
children  and  the  approval  of  the  establishment  of 
courts  of  domestic  relations. 

This  report  is  perhaps  not  only  the  latest  but  the 
best  of  its  kind  put  in  brief  and  compact  form. 


100     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

Religious  Rest  Day:  The  original  committee  on 
Sunday  Observance,  of  which  Rev.  Peter  Ainslie 
was  chairman,  reported  to  the  Council  in  1912  that 
its  work  had  been  mainly  that  of  co-operation  with 
and  support  of  organizations  and  movements  in  the 
interest  of  Sunday  Observance.  It  contained  a  re- 
view of  these  movements. 

The  resolutions  of  the  report,  which  were  ap- 
proved, affirmed  convictions  of  the  physical,  moral 
and  religious  necessity  of  a  weekly  day  of  rest  and 
worship,  endorsed  a  half  holiday,  preferably  Sat- 
urday, discouraged  the  common  practice  of  placing 
burdens  upon  students  which  require  study  on 
Sunday,  and  endorsed  the  campaign  of  the  Com- 
mission on  the  Church  and  Social  Service  for  One 
Day  of  Rest  in  Seven. 

The  Commission  on  Sunday  Observance  reported 
to  the  1916  Council  in  similar  vein,  bringing  its 
review  up  to  date.  Its  resolutions,  which  were 
adopted,  included  an  earnest  protest  against  the 
enforced  employment  of  4,000,000  of  the  people 
seven  days  a  week,  deplored  the  growing  neglect 
of  public  worship  on  the  part  of  professed  Chris- 
tians, reaffirmed  the  convictions  of  the  Council  re- 
garding One  Day's  Rest  in  Seven,  urging  this  espe- 
cially upon  the  Federal  Government  and  protested 
against  commercial  amusements  on  Sunday. 

The  considerations  and  reports  of  this  Commis- 
sion have  not  been  entirely  free  from  difficulties, 
owing  to  a  difference  of  opinion  between  some  of 
the  bodies  of  the  Council,  and  the  Seventh-Day 
Baptists,  and  indeed  to  some  difference  of  opinion 
between  other  representatives  in  the  Council,  as  to 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     101 

what  constitutes  the  proper  observance  of  Sunday, 
and  especially  as  to  how  far  concessions  should 
be  made  to  those  who  conscientiously  observe  a 
different  day  as  a  religious  rest  day. 

As  a  result,  the  Council  added  the  following 
resolution  to  those  originally  proposed  by  the  Com- 
mission : 

"That  while  we  concede  the  right  of  all  who  con- 
scientiously choose  to  do  so,  to  observe  the  seventh  day 
of  the  week  as  a  day  of  worship,  yet,  believing  as  we  do, 
that  the  growth  and  permanency  of  our  civil  and  relig- 
ious institution  demands  the  legal  sanction  and  protec- 
tion of  the  one  day  as  the  Christian  Sabbath,  and 
further,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  has  given  its  approval  to  Sunday  Laws 
as  a  part  of  the  common  law  of  the  land,  therefore,  we 
pledge  ourselves  to  seek  the  enactment  and  enforcement 
of  both  state  and  federal  laws  for  the  preservation  of 
the  Christian  Sabbath." 

The  delegates  from  the  Seventh-Day  Baptists' 
General  Conference  also  presented  the  following 
statement : 

"While  appeals  to  state  or  national  government  for 
the  support  of  distinctly  religious  institutions  seem  to  us 
to  savor  of  union  of  church  and  state,  yet  with  the 
understanding  that  the  report  of  the  Commission  on 
Sunday  Observance  is  to  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  Council,  we  do  not  oppose  its 
adoption. 

"Individually  or  denominationally  our  people  have 
been  associated  with  this  great  movement  from  its  be- 
ginning. We  believe  in  it.  Its  expenses  have  a  place 
in  our  Conference  budget.  We  are  loyal  to  its  prin- 
ciples, and  labor  for  their  extension. 

"Your  splendid  courtesy  has  more  than  once  stirred 


102     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

our  hearts;  and  we  beg  you  to  record  the  following  as 
an  expression  of  our  attitude  toward  the  work  of  our 
Commission  on  Sunday  Observance. 

"Under  the  Christian  dispensation  all  time  and  places 
and  the  whole  of  life  are  holy.  For  this  very  reason, 
some  day,  conscientiously  regarded,  should  be  especially 
given  to  letting  God  come  into  our  minds  and  hearts. 
And  the  day  on  which  God  thus  finds  men,  and  on 
which  men  find  in  him  their  Father,  and  in  every  man 
a  brother,  is  truly  a  Religious  Rest  Day." 

It  should  be  said  that  upon  this  question  both 
the  Council  as  a  whole  and  the  representatives  of 
the  Seventh  Day  Baptist  Church  have  exhibited  the 
utmost  Christian  courtesy,  without  any  modification 
of  Christian  conviction.  The  question  is  admitted 
to  be  a  difficult  one,  requiring  a  spirit  of  prayer 
and  patience.  In  this  connection  it  should  be  said 
that  the  Seventh  Day  Baptist  representatives  have 
been  among  the  most  loyal  and  earnest  supporters 
of  the  common  program  of  the  Federal  Council  in 
all  its  phases. 

But,  regardless  of  these  minor  problems,  our 
family  life,  with  all  the  disintegrating  forces  in  our 
modern  civilization,  and  our  observance  of  a  day 
of  spiritual  conservation  beset  by  the  materialism 
and  laxity  of  the  age,  are  questions  for  mutual 
concern  and  counsel,  calling  for  the  interchange  of 
wisdom  and  experience,  upon  the  part  of  the 
churches  of  all  polities  and  faiths. 

Special  Opportunities  for  United  Action 
In  addition  to  the  constant  regular  work  of  the 
Departments  and  Commissions  of  the  Council,  spe- 
cial occasions  arise  from  time  to  time,  offering  an 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     103 

opportunity  for  effective  united  action  on  the  part 
of  the  churches. 

Religious  work  at  the  Panama  Exposition. 

Representatives  from  the  Pacific  Coast  earnestly 
presented  to  the  Council  at  Chicago  in  1912,  the 
remarkable  opportunity  offered  for  religious  work, 
and  especially  the  tremendous  need  of  it,  at  the 
Panama  Pacific  Exposition.  The  distance  of  this 
Exposition  from  the  administration  in  New  York 
seemed  to  make  it  impossible  that  it  should  be  con- 
ducted otherwise  than  by  the  authorization  and 
appointment  of  a  Committee  of  One  Hundred  lo- 
cated mainly  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  which  Com- 
mittee should  be  given  the  general  approval  of  the 
Council,  with  freedom  and  autonomy  to  proceed 
ut  its  discretion.  The  General  Secretary  of  the 
Council  went  to  San  Francisco,  and  as  the  result 
of  his  conference,  there  was  appointed  "the  Com- 
mittee of  One  Hundred  appointed  by  the  Federal 
Council,"  of  which  Bishop  Edwin  H.  Hughes  was 
elected  Chairman  and  Rev.  H.  H.  Bell  the  Ex- 
ecutive Secretary. 

A  religious  exhibit  was  maintained  at  the  Ex- 
position, of  considerable  magnitude,  and,  so  far  as 
we  know,  was  the  first  attempt  of  its  kind.  Six 
great  and  timely  congresses  were  held,  largely 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Committee;  the  World's 
Social  Progress  Congress,  the  Women's  National 
Congress  of  Missions,  the  International  Immigra- 
tion Congress,  the  World's  Bible  Congress,  the  Na- 
tional Congress  of  Young  People,  and  the  Inter- 
national Peace  Congress,  the  latter  of  which  was 


104     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

entirely  under  the  direction  of  the  Committee  of 
One  Hundred. 

Evangelistic  services  were  held  in  a  tabernacle 
throughout  the  entire  Exposition,  conducted  by  the 
leading  evangelists  of  the  nation.  Literature  was 
distributed  in  large  quantities  through  the  various 
authoritative  organizations,  the  entire  campaign 
costing  about  $45,000  in  addition  to  the  exhibits, 
which  cost  about  $25,000,  and  congresses  held  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Committee,  whose  funds  were 
separate,  about  $12,000,  making  a  total  of  about 
$92,000. 

In  view  of  the  isolation  of  the  Committee,  and, 
it  might  be  frankly  said,  some  lack  of  interest  in 
the  other  parts  of  the  nation,  the  Committee  is 
regarded  as  having  accomplished  a  great  and  im- 
portant task. 

American  Peace  Centenary. 

Another  similar  occasion  was  that  afforded  by  the 
celebration  of  one  hundred  years  of  peace  with 
Great  Britain,  reported  in  another  chapter  under 
the  head  of  International  Relatidns.  Attention, 
however,  may  be  called  to  the  fact  that  while  the 
National  Citizens'  Committee  practically  gave  up 
this  celebration  on  account  of  the  war,  it  was 
widely  observed  by  the  churches  of  Canada  and  the 
United  States  under  the  effective  direction  and 
stimulation  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  Fed- 
eral Council. 

The  Protestant  Reformation. 

The  four-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  Protestant 
Reformation   offers   a   similar   opportunity.      This 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     105 

committee  was  appointed  by  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee in  191 5  and  reported  its  plans  to  the  Council 
in  191 6,  which  were  approved  and  which  included 
the  co-operation,  in  the  celebration,  of  all  the 
evangelical  churches,  the  co-ordination  of  the  de- 
nominational movements,  arrangements  for  a  joint 
celebration  at  one  or  more  great  centers  in  October, 
191 7,  as  well  as  more  general  work,  including  the 
preparation  and  distribution  of  appropriate  litera- 
ture. 

The  Committee  reported  again  to  the  Washing- 
ton meeting  of  the  Council  in  May,  191 7,  indicating 
progress  especially  on  the  part  of  the  Lutheran, 
Presbyterian  and  Reformed  bodies,  the  plans  in- 
cluding a  Jubilee  Fund  by  the  Lutherans,  the 
placing  of  a  Bible  Chair  in  each  Presbyterian  Col- 
lege and  the  erection  of  a  $100,000  Schaff*  Memorial 
Building  in  Philadelphia  erected  to  the  cause  of 
Christian  Unity.  The  Committee  appointed  by  the 
Federal  Council  had  sent  out  two  messages,  to  the 
churches  and  to  the  colleges  and  universities,  and 
had  prepared  special  literature,  including  in  par- 
ticular a  pamphlet  entitled  "The  Four  Hundredth 
Anniversary  of  the  Protestant  Reformation." 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Committee  it  was  de- 
cided that  the  celebration  should  be  entirely  con- 
structive in  its  nature,  and  especially  for  the  pur- 
pose of  setting  forth  the  essential  principles  of  the 
Reformation,  with  a  reaffirmation  of  the  distinctive 
principles  of  Protestant  evangelicalism.  The  office 
of  this  Committee  is  in  Philadelphia,  its  chairman 
being  Rev.  William  H.  Roberts  and  its  executive 
secretary  Rev.  Howard  R.  Gold. 


106     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

United  activities  from  time  to  time. 

Other  special  activities  which  occur  from  time  to 
time,  for  the  initiation  of  which  the  Federal  Coun- 
cil at  its  national  office  is  ready  and  equipped,  may 
be  illustrated  by  the  war  relief  movement,  the  as- 
sistance of  the  French  and  Belgian  churches  and 
missions,  the  Committee  on  Religious  Conditions  in 
the  Canal  Zone,  the  more  recent  Committee  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose  of  securing,  training  and 
sending  women  to  Europe  for  work  under  the 
French  Protestant  Committee,  and  the  conference 
of  religious  organizations  doing  work  in  France. 

Campaign  for  human  life. 

Opportunities  constantly  appear  for  the  projec- 
tion of  special  campaigns,  either  temporary  or  per- 
manent, as  the  case  may  be.  A  campaign  for  the 
conservation  of  human  life  is  under  the  direction 
of  Secretary  Stelzle,  among  its  features  being,  in 
co-operation  with  appropriate  organizations,  the 
influence  of  the  churches  in  preventing  the  death 
rate  among  babies,  the  reduction  of  child  labor,  the 
protection  of  women  engaged  in  industry,  sanitary 
conditions  in  halls  and  factories,  the  ravages  of 
sickness  and  death  due  to  intoxicating  liquor,  pro- 
tection from  dangerous  trades  and  occupations,  and 
other  unnecessary  human  evils  due  to  the  unnec- 
essary and  inhuman  strains  of  life.  For  this  cam- 
paign an  Advisory  Committee  has  been  chosen, 
composed  of  men  and  women  of  prominence  who 
are  connected  with  the  various  organizations  having 
to  do  with  these  problems. 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     107 

The  projection  of  wider  movements. 

In  fact,  the  national  office  of  the  Council  is  fairly 
well  equipped,  and  the  Council  itself  rather  strate- 
gically composed,  to  serve  for  the  purpose  of 
convening  men  and  women  together  for  the  pro- 
jection of  movements,  which  then  take  a  wider 
scope.  We  may  take  for  example  the  United  Com- 
mittee on  War  Temperance  Activities  in  the  Army 
and  Navy.  Upon  the  initiative  of  the  joint  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  of  the  Commission  on  Temper- 
ance, representatives  of  the  various  temperance 
organizations  were  invited  by  the  Council  to  convene 
in  its  conference  room  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
jecting this  movement.  The  organizations  re- 
sponding constitute  practically  all  of  the  recognized 
temperance  agencies  and  the  breadth  of  such 
movements,  which  the  Council  assumes  the  responsi- 
bility of  initiating,  but  which  then  assume  entire 
responsibility  and  autonomy,  is  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  in  this  United  Committee  are  included  the 
Roman  Catholic  Prohibition  League  and  the  Catho- 
lic Total  Abstainers'  Union.  While  such  move- 
ments, after  they  reach  the  public  eye,  are  not 
particularly  associated  in  the  public  mind  with  the 
Federal  Council,  or  even  with  the  churches,  the 
writer  regards  this  more  or  less  unseen  function 
of  the  Council  as  one  of  its  most  significant  and 
important. 

Co-operative  movements. 

In  addition  to  such  activities  as  these,  projected 
by  the  Council  or  initiated  by  conferences  which 


108    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

it  invites,  the  national  office,  its  staff,  its  depart- 
ments and  commissions  are  in  a  co-operative  re- 
lationship with  a  large  number  of  bodies  and 
movements  which  appropriately  call  for  the  support 
of  the  churches.  In  referring  to  the  situation 
created  by  the  war,  in  an  article  in  the  American 
Journal  of  Theology  for  July,  1917,  the  writer  in- 
dicated this  function  in  these  words : 

"Previous  to  this  time  the  chaplains  in  the  army  and 
navy  have  been  appointed  rather  indiscriminately,  often 
through  political  channels,  and  without  very  much  con- 
cern on  the  part  of  the  churches.  Now  the  Secretaries 
of  War  and  the  Navy  have  at  their  hand  in  Washington 
a  body  representing  all  the  churches  with  which  they 
can  deal.  When  the  missionaries  in  Japan  have  oc- 
casion to  plead  their  cause  before  the  American  churches, 
they  have  a  body  to  whom  they  can  come.  When  the 
Red  Cross  needs  the  service  of  Christian  people,  the  or- 
ganization turns  instinctively  to  the  Federal  Council. 
The  Protestant  churches  of  war-stricken  Europe  find 
an  open  door  to  American  Christianity.  The  perse- 
cuted Jews  can  here  seek  consideration  for  their  wrongs. 
The  religious  census  department  finds  it  necessary  to 
keep  in  constant  communication  with  the  Washington 
office  of  the  Council.  The  social  workers,  the  officers 
of  the  organizations  for  war  relief,  and  similar  toilers 
in  the  world's  work  are  our  daily  visitors." 

All  such  opportunities  as  these,  for  united  action 
by  the  churches,  would  be  lost,  no  matter  how 
fraternal  might  be  the  spirit  of  the  churches,  were 
there  not  a  permanent  organization  on  daily  duty, 
ready  for  the  opportunity  at  the  moment  of  its 
appearance. 


Co-operation  in  Unified  Activities     109 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  FOR  CHAPTER  IV 

Christian  Unity  at  Work ; — The  Churches  of  Christ 
in  Council; — Christian  Co-operation  and  World  Re- 
demption ; — Co-operation  in  Christian  Education ; — 
Christian  Service  in  the  Modern  World,  Macfarland; 
Religious  Education  and  Democracy,  Winchester; — 
The  Year  Book  of  the  Church  and  Social  Service; 
— The  Social  Creed  of  the  Churches,  Ward. 

Report  of  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred; — The 
World's  Social  Progress  Congress,  W.  M.  Bell;— 
Fifth  American  Peace  Congress,  1915* 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  FEDERATION  IN 
NATION,  STATE,  CITY  AND  TOWN 

Home  Missions 

THE  original  Committee  on  Home  Missions,  of 
which  Rev.  L.  C.  Barnes  was  Chairman, 
presented  a  notable  report  at  the  quadren- 
nial meeting  in  1912.  A  special  investigator  had 
been  placed  in  Colorado  for  a  number  of  months, 
following  which  a  Joint  Committee  composed  of 
the  Committee  on  Home  Missions  and  a  Special 
Committee  of  the  Home  Missions  Council  had  in- 
vestigated fifteen  western  states.  The  situation 
which  the  Committee  reported  made  obvious  the 
result  of  isolation  and  independent  action  in  the 
distribution  of  religious  forces.  Overlooking  was 
more  serious  even  than  overlapping  and  duplica- 
tion. One  hundred  and  thirty-three  places  were 
found,  ranging  in  population  from  one  hundred  and 
fifty  to  one  thousand  souls,  without  Protestant 
churches  of  any  kind;  one  hundred  of  these  being 
also  without  a  Roman  Catholic  church.  Some  of 
them  were  rural  communities,  some  were  mining 
communities  scattered  up  and  down  a  narrow 
valley,  being  difficult  to  care  for  because  thus  scat- 
tered. In  addition  to  these,  there  were  four  hun- 
110 


Development  of  Federation  in  Nation     111 

dred  and  twenty-eight  communities  of  sufficient 
importance  to  have  post  offices,  but  without  any 
churches.  Whole  counties  were  found  with  no 
adequate  religious  work.  It  was  found  that  at  one 
end  of  the  scale  eleven  per  cent  of  Home  Mission 
aid  goes  to  fields  where  there  is  but  one  church; 
yy  per  cent  goes  to  the  strategic  centers,  the  nine 
largest  towns  and  cities  of  the  State  (35.6  per  cent 
to  the  two  largest  cities).  Nearly  90  per  cent 
therefore  (88.8  per  cent)  of  the  Home  Mission 
aid  goes  either  where  there  is  no  duplication  what- 
ever or  to  the  swiftly  growing  cities,  where  the 
future  of  the  people  is  pivoted,  leaving  but  11.2 
per  cent  at  the  other  end  of  the  scale. 

As  to  the  minor  problem,  "over-lapping,"  such 
very  exceptional  cases  as  that  of  a  town  of  four 
hundred  people  and  four  churches  receiving  Home 
Mission  aid  to  the  amount  of  $660.00  and  another 
of  three  hundred  people  with  six  churches  receiving 
$530.00  of  such  aid,  called  for  prompt  and  careful 
scrutiny.  Other  places  without  such  patent  excess 
of  churches  showed  conditions  which  create  a 
similar  presumption.  The  importance  of  this  aspect 
of  the  subject  has  to  do,  not  so  much  with  the 
waste  of  the  home  mission  money,  of  which  waste 
the  amount  at  worst  is  small,  but  with  the  loss  of 
effectiveness  which  accompanies  undue  multiplica- 
tion of  churches. 

In  one  state  60,000  to  75,000  of  the  population 
were  reported  as  residing  five  miles  or  more  from 
a  church.  A  section  in  the  northern  part  of  that 
State,  40  x  400  miles,  had  been  homesteaded  dur- 
ing the  last  two  years  and  had  few  religious  op- 


112    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

portunities.  Preaching  there  was  mainly  by  home- 
steading  ministers.  It  is  estimated  that  20,000,000 
acres  of  that  State,  thus  thrown  open,  will  be 
occupied  in  the  next  five  years.  One  rich  valley 
of  the  State,  54  miles  from  a  railroad,  with  a 
population  of  5000,  capable  of  supporting  50,000 
people,  was  reported  as  having  but  one  church.  In 
another  State  14  counties  were  said  to  have  but 
three  permanent  places  in  each  for  worship.  One 
county  in  still  another  state  has  a  rural  population 
of  9000  with  no  religious  ministry  except  that  sup- 
plied by  the  Mormon  system.  Another  county  of 
the  same  state  has  a  purely  rural  population  of 
18,000,  yet  only  two  or  three  of  its  65  school  dis- 
tricts have  regular  services.  Both  of  these  two 
counties,  though  not  in  Utah,  are  largely  Mormon. 
Literally,  thousands  of  foreigners  in  all  of  the 
States  surveyed  never  hear  the  Word  of  God.  The 
problem  of  the  foreigner  is  not  to  be  thought  of 
as  belonging  to  the  Atlantic  Coast  alone.  The  pro- 
portion of  foreign  born  is  as  great  in  some  Western 
States  as  it  is  in  New  York  and  larger  in  some 
Western  communities  than  it  is  in  New  York  City 
or  Boston.  Thousands  of  American  Indians  were 
found  who  are  sun-worshippers  and  pagans,  and 
have  never  heard  of  Christ.  The  "Inland  Empire," 
a  truly  imperial  territory,  one  of  the  richest  and 
rapidly  becoming  one  of  the  most  highly  developed 
agricultural  sections  of  the  Northwest,  is  said  to 
have  no  strictly  rural  ministers  except  two  German 
Baptists  and  here  and  there  one  carrying  the  his- 
toric name  Lutheran. 

Among  Orientals  on  the  Pacific  Coast  the  deputa- 


Development  of  Federation  in  Nation     113 

tion  was  informed  that  many  Chinese  who  have 
been  brought  to  Christ  have  voluntarily  carried  the 
Gospel  back  to  their  native  province  of  Canton. 
Reliable  reports  indicate  that  such  have  not  only 
exerted  a  definite  influence  in  the  establishment  of 
the  Christian  Church  in  that  province,  but  have 
furnished  large  inspiration  in  the  direction  of 
political  development.  We  are  told  that  twenty- 
seven  counties  in  California,  each  with  more  than 
one  hundred  Chinese,  averaging  over  two  hundred 
each,  are  without  any  Christian  work  among  them. 
Even  in  San  Francisco  there  is  only  one  Missionary 
among  them  to  every  950  Chinese.  Yet  in  that  city 
a  larger  percentage  of  Chinese  than  of  Caucasians 
are  communicants  in  evangelical  churches.  Gen- 
erally we  do  not  give  them  half  a  chance  on  the 
Christian  road ;  when  we  do,  they  outrun  us. 

One  of  the  most  startling  facts  confirmed  by 
investigation  is  that  Buddhism  in  Seattle,  San 
Francisco,  Los  Angeles  is  aggressively  propagating 
itself  from  these  cities  as  centers.  Buddhist 
temples  have  been  erected,  in  which  cultured  priests 
administer  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  their  re- 
ligion, and  through  a  series  of  lectures  in  various 
parts  of  these  cities  are  reaching  large  numbers  of 
Americans,  especially  women.  Christianity  is  thus 
being  put  on  the  defensive  and  is  grappling  in  the 
struggle  with  the  religions  and  cults  of  the  Orient. 
Recently  thousands  of  Hindus  have  come.  Next 
to  nothing  is  being  done  for  them. 

The  recommendations  of  the  Committee,  which 
were  approved,  consisted  of  specific  measures  to  be 
undertaken  to  meet  these  difficulties,  including  the 


114     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

formation  of  State  Federal  Councils  or  State  Home 
Missions  Councils,  with  provision  for  regular  con- 
sultations twice  a  year  between  Home  Mission 
executives  in  each  State. 

One  of  the  cardinal  principles  of  the  Federal 
Council  is  the  avoidance  of  duplication,  and  in  pur- 
suance of  this  principle  the  Commission  on  Home 
Missions  took  action  in  191 3,  whereby  the  Home 
Missions  Council  should  discharge  its  functions  and 
become  a  co-operating  body  with  the  Federal  Coun- 
cil, to  act  for  the  Federal  Council  in  matters  of 
home  missions.  The  Home  Missions  Council  is 
made  up  of  representatives  of  the  Home  Mission 
Boards,  meeting  annually  and  performing  its  work 
through  appropriate  committees. 

An  attempt  to  put  in  brief  compass  the  report 
of  the  Chairman  of  the  Home  Missions  Council, 
Rev.  Charles  L.  Thompson,  to  the  quadrennial  meet- 
ing of  191 6,  is  exceedingly  difficult  because  that 
report  itself  is  a  digest  of  the  annual  reports  of  the 
Home  Missions  Council  for  four  years. 

The  departments  of  the  Home  Missions  Council 
are  as  follows: 

1.  The  educational  department,  in  which  the  Home 
Missions  Council  and  the  Council  of  Women  for 
Home  Missions  unite  in  the  promotion  of  the  work 
by  the  setting  apart  of  special  seasons  and  by  the 
preparation  and  circulation  of  literature  adapted  to 
arouse  missionary  interest. 

2.  Missions  among  American  Indians. 

3.  The  Spanish-speaking  people  of  the  United  States. 

4.  The  work  among  the  Negroes,  North  and  South. 

5.  The  evangelization  of  cities. 

6.  The  evangelization  of  the  rural  regions. 


Development  of  Federation  in  Nation     115 

7.  Missions  to  immigrants. 

8.  Comity  and  co-operation. 

9.  Missionary  education. 
10.  Statistics. 

Rev.  T.  C.  Moffett  serves  as  the  representative 
of  the  Council  at  Washington  in  Indian  matters, 
and  representatives  in  matters  concerning  immigra- 
tion are  employed  from  time  to  time. 

The  following  examples,  taken  more  or  less  at 
random,  will  indicate  the  nature  and  scope  of  co- 
operation in  Home  Mission  work. 

The  boards  in  the  Home  Missions  Council  have 
practically  agreed  to  avoid  overlapping  in  Indian 
Mission  fields  and  to  refer  all  doubtful  cases  to  the 
Council. 

In  work  among  Negroes,  the  Council  brings  to- 
gether leaders  from  both  North  and  South  for 
mutual  conference  and  action. 

City  Church  Councils  are  on  the  increase,  both 
in  number  and  in  practical  effectiveness. 

During  191 5  the  Council  held  Home  Mission 
Institutes  in  the  special  interest  of  rural  churches, 
has  made  several  surveys  of  different  Home  Mis- 
sion sections,  the  reports  of  which  are  now  being 
completed,  and  is  providing  institutes  for  country- 
ministers. 

Immigrant  work  was  set  up  at  Ports  of  Entry 
during  the  quadrennium,  in  co-operation  with  the 
Council  of  Women  for  Home  Missions,  an  effective 
co-operating  body  with  the  Council,  and  Confer- 
ences on  Immigrant  work  have  been  held  at  differ- 
ent points  along  the  Pacific  Coast. 

A  similar  series  of  conferences  was  held  in  the 


116    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

mining   sections   of   Pennsylvania,   the   reports   of 
which  will  be  of  deep  interest. 

Most  important  of  all,  however,  is  the  agreement 
on  principles  of  Comity  and  Co-operation,  to  which 
the  Home  Mission  Boards  have  subscribed,  for 
while  it  cannot  readily  undo  the  harm  of  earlier 
years,  it  is  bringing  about  an  increasingly  effective 
distribution  of  religious  forces,  and  even  where  it 
cannot  eliminate  duplication,  it  can  insure  co-opera- 
tion. 

The  report  reviews  the  situation  regarding  Amer- 
ican Indian  missions,  with  full  statistical  informa- 
tion concerning  these  missions,  work  among  Span- 
ish speaking  peoples,  work  among  negroes,  city 
church  work,  rural  fields  and  the  neglected  fields 
surveys,  with  the  presentation  of  plans  for  state 
interdenominational  commissions,  immigrant  work, 
principles  of  comity  and  co-operation  both  as  to  the 
occupancy  of  new  fields  and  in  communities  already 
occupied,  missionary  education,  and,  in  conclusion, 
made  the  following  recommendation  to  the  Federal 
Council : 

"Because  in  certain  states,  especially  in  the  South- 
west, where  moral  or  religious  conditions  are  plastic 
and  where  little  has  been  attempted  in  the  way  of  fed- 
eration, we  recommend  that  a  committee  of  the  Federal 
Council  and  the  Home  Missions  Council  select  a  limited 
number  of  states  in  the  West  and  Southwest  for  the 
holding  of  conferences  to  promote  a  spirit  of  co-opera- 
tion and  to  secure,  so  far  as  practicable,  definite  plans 
of  church  federation,  and  that  each  Council  send  a 
representative  to  such  institutes  to  aid  in  attuning  the 
ends  desired." 


Development  of  Federation  in  Nation     117 

Arrangements  are  now  being  made  to  carry  out 
this  proposal. 

The  Home  Missions  Council  has  up  to  this  time 
not  been  an  administrative  body,  its  work  being 
done  almost  entirely  by  voluntary  committees  made 
up  of  the  secretaries  and  representatives  of  vari- 
ous boards  who  have  reported  annually  to  the 
Council  or  oftener  to  its  Executive  Committee. 

The  Committee  of  Fifteen,  at  the  Federal  Council 
of  1916,  made  the  following  recommendation: 

"We  recommend  that  the  above-constituted  commit- 
tee on  Home  Missions  enter  into  conference  with  the 
Home  Missions  Council,  now  a  co-operating  body  with 
the  Federal  Council,  to  consider  the  question  of  so  ad- 
justing the  administration  of  the  Home  Missions  Coun- 
cil, and  so  strengthening  the  co-operative  relationship 
between  the  two  bodies,  as  to  more  fully  meet  the  needs 
of  the  churches  in  the  field  of  home  missions." 

The  chairman  of  the  committee  on  Home  Mis- 
sions is  Rev.  John  M.  Moore. 

Measures  are  now  being  considered  relative  to 
larger  administrative  activities  on  the  part  of  the 
Home  Missions  Council,  in  view  of  the  oppor- 
tunities and  work  which  are  constantly  made  ap- 
parent through  the  investigations,  surveys  and 
concrete  activities  of  its  committees. 


Negro  Churches 

In  addition  to  the  report  of  the  Home  Missions 
Council,  of  work  among  negroes,  a  special  report 
was  received  by  the  quadrennial  meeting  of  1916 


118    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

on  the  work  among  negro  churches,  by  a  special 
committee  appointed  by  the  Executive  Committee, 
of  which  Bishop  Wilbur  P.  Thirkield  was  chair- 
man, composed  of  men,  both  white  and  colored, 
occupying  places  of  leadership  in  work  among  the 
colored  people. 

Previously,  at  the  quadrennial  meeting  of  1912, 
Rev.  W.  A.  Blackwell,  addressing  the  Council  on 
the  subject,  The  Uplifting  of  a  Race,  had  made 
an  earnest  plea  for  the  utmost  co-operation  of  the 
Federal  Council.  Following  this,  one  of  the  col- 
ored constituent  bodies  overtured  the  Council  to 
appoint  a  special  committee  to  consider  the  work 
and  needs  of  the  negro  churches  and  people. 

The  Committee  presented  an  illuminating  report, 
considering  such  questions  as  co-operation  be- 
tween white  and  colored  churches,  matters  of  re- 
ligion and  morals,  social  conditions,  education, 
publicity  and  public  sentiment,  recommending 
among  other  things  the  holding  of  interdenomina- 
tional ministerial  institutes  for  negro  ministers,  to 
include  courses  in  community  betterment  and  sani- 
tation, as  well  as  in  Bible  study  and  in  ministerial 
work  proper. 

This  report  was  the  subject  of  earnest  considera- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Federal  Council.  The 
report,  with  some  modifications,  was  approved  and 
the  Committee  discharged,  the  report  and  its  rec- 
ommendations being  referred  to  the  appropriate 
commissions  of  the  Council  and  to  the  Executive 
Committee.  Since  that  time  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee has  appointed  a  special  committee  of  the 
Executive  Committee,  of  which  Bishop  Thirkield 


Development  of  Federation  in  Nation     119 

is  the  Chairman,  to  give  further  consideration  to 
the  matters  involved. 

A  rather  notable  statement  was  made  to  the 
Council  by  the  representatives  of  the  four  colored 
denominations,  at  St.  Louis,  as  follows: 

"Dear  Brethren  : 

"The  members  of  these  churches  represented  in  the 
Council  desire  to  express  their  joy  in  sharing  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ 
in  America,  and  in  uniting  in  its  work  with  the  equal 
rights  and  privileges  accorded  us. 

"We  recognize  also  with  pleasure  the  appointment  of 
a  Special  Committee  which  was  appointed  to  bring  to 
the  attention  of  the  Council  the  special  interests  of  our 
race. 

"We  desire  to  ask  that  our  work  and  needs  be  con- 
sidered just  the  same  as  those  of  any  other  members  of 
the  Council,  and  we  express  our  desire  to  share  in  the 
work  of  all  the  Commissions  of  the  Council  with  the 
privilege  of  bringing  the  needs  of  our  people  to  the 
attention  of  those  Commissions. 

"At  the  same  time,  it  is  clearly  apparent  that  our 
churches  have  particular  necessities  different  from  those 
of  the  other  churches  in  the  Council.  Therefore,  we 
may  desire  to  bring  to  the  attention  of  the  Council  or 
its  Executive  Committee  special  matters  which  we  be- 
lieve should  call  for  special  action. 

"We  would  respectfully  express  the  feeling  that  our 
race  on  the  one  hand  suffers  many  wrongs  from  those 
who  are  stronger  than  we,  but  still  more  we  rejoice 
that  those  who  are  stronger  than  we  sustain  and  help 
us. 

"We  feel  that  there  is  danger  that  our  people  may 
sometimes  lose  their  faith  in  their  brethren  of  the  white 
race,  and  we  believe  that  the  Council  should  never  hesi- 
tate to  condemn  the  grievous  wrongs  done  us,  and  yet 
we  desire  that  the  Council  shall  not  do  or  say  anything 
which  may  increase  strife  and  bitterness.     We  ask  no 


120    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

special  consideration.  We  only  ask  for  justice  in  the 
spirit  of  love.  We  ask  that  the  Council,  through  the 
work  of  its  Commissions,  shall  not  only  help  us  in 
righting  our  wrongs,  but  also  in  lifting  our  people  in 
education,  in  their  social  conditions,  and,  above  all,  in 
their  moral  and  spiritual  life." 

The  war  has  raised  special  problems,  especially 
in  view  of  the  negro  regiments,  and  early  in  19 17 
this  Committee  held  meetings  to  prepare  for  such 
work  as  it  might  do  to  help  the  negro  churches  in 
their  great  task. 

The  great  problems  of  the  Black  race,  which  are 
none  the  less  problems  of  the  White  race,  are  not 
denominational.  They  are  social  and  racial,  and 
without  exception,  are  common  to  all  the  churches. 

The  Country  Church 

In  April,  191 3,  the  Commission  on  the  Church 
and  Social  Service  appointed  a  special  committee 
on  the  Church  and  Country  Life,  with  Hon.  GifTord 
Pinchot  as  Chairman  and  Rev.  Charles  O.  Gill  as 
Secretary.  Shortly  afterward  Mr.  Gill  was  sent, 
as  a  representative  of  the  Commission,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  American  Commission  to  study  agri- 
cultural co-operation  in  Europe,  and  on  his  return 
he  made  an  exceedingly  interesting  and  original 
report,  which  was  conveyed  by  the  Commission  on 
the  Church  and  Social  Service,  for  its  informa- 
tional value,  to  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Federal  Council  at  its  meeting  in  December,  1914. 

At  about  the  same  time  the  Commission,  with 
the  authorization  of  the  Administrative  Committee 
of  the  Council,  published  "The  Country  Church, 


Development  of  Federation  in  Nation     121 

the  Decline  of  Its  Influence  and  the  Remedy," 
written  by  Mr.  Gill  with  the  collaboration  of  Mr. 
Pinchot.  This  notable  volume  has  been  regarded, 
not  only  as  the  latest  but  as  the  most  authentic 
survey  of  the  Country  Church  which  has  appeared. 
It  was  the  result  of  investigation  which  had  cov- 
ered about  three  years  in  two  typical  counties, 
Windsor  County,  Vermont,  and  Tompkins  County, 
New  York.  Its  statements  of  fact  and  figures  have 
never  been  disputed,  although  in  every  case,  not 
only  the  town  or  village,  but  the  churches  them- 
selves were  given  by  name.  It  disclosed  a  most 
remarkable  situation,  but  also  was  able  to  bear 
witness  to  great  and  desirable  changes  which  had 
been  effected  in  the  life  of  the  community  by  the 
recovery  of  the  power  and  influence  of  the  country 
church.  This  volume  clearly  marked  Mr.  Gill  as 
an  accurate,  effective  and  prophetic  investigator  of 
rural  conditions,  especially  in  their  relation  to  the 
religious  life  of  the  community  centering  in  the 
country  church. 

In  December,  1914,  the  Executive  Committee 
authorized  the  creation  of  an  ad  interim  Commis- 
sion on  the  Church  and  Country  Life,  with  Mr. 
Pinchot  as  chairman  and  Mr.  Gill  as  its  secretary. 
Shortly  after  this  Commission  determined  to  dele- 
gate Mr.  Gill  for  a  state  survey  on  lines  similar 
to  those  of  the  previous  county  surveys.  The 
State  of  Ohio  was  selected,  and  for  the  past  three 
years  Mr.  Gill,  with  his  headquarters  at  Columbus, 
has  been  pursuing  this  survey,  which  has  just 
been  completed  and  will  be  published  in  the  near 
future,  together  with  illustrative  maps  and  charts. 


122     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation  ' 

Testimony  has  already  been  received  from  resi- 
dent bishops  and  home  mission  workers  in  the 
state  that  it  will  be  of  the  highest  value  in  indi- 
cating lines  of  co-operation  and  comity  upon  the 
part  of  the  churches.  Of  the  1388  townships  in 
Ohio,  1350  are  included  in  the  survey.  Of  these 
1200  are  classed  as  rural.  The  great  majority  of 
the  rural  churches  are  without  resident  ministers 
and  in  26  per  cent  of  these  townships  no  church 
has  a  resident  pastor.  In  rural  Ohio  there  is  one 
church  to  every  286  persons.  There  is  an  average 
of  five  rural  churches  to  each  rural  township,  with 
an  average  population  of  1470  persons.  Mr.  Gill 
asserts  that  the  churches  compete  rather  than  co- 
operate. When  this  survey  is  published  the  ec- 
clesiastical statesmen  of  Ohio  will  be  furnished 
with  the  basis  for  a  great  opportunity.  Such  is 
the  observation  of  Bishop  W.  F.  Anderson  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  it  is  confirmed 
by  other  religious  leaders. 

In  December,  191 5,  the  Commission  held  at 
Columbus,  Ohio,  a  Country  Church  Conference,  at 
which  fifty-five  members  of  the  Commission  were 
present  with  more  than  six  hundred  genuine  rural 
delegates  from  the  rural  sections  of  thirty-one 
states.  The  average  attendance  at  the  Conference 
was  about  900,  while  at  the  closing  session,  ad- 
dressed by  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
there  was  a  gathering  of  four  thousand  persons. 
The  proceedings  of  the  Conference  have  been  pub- 
lished in  the  volume  entitled  "The  Church  and 
Country  Life,"  containing  reports  of  the  special 
committees  of  the  Commission  presented  by  such 


Development  of  Federation  in  Nation     123 

men  as  President  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield,  President 
George  B.  Stewart,  Professor  G.  Walter  Fiske, 
Rev.  E.  T.  Root,  Professor  E.  L.  Earp,  Albert  E. 
Roberts,  and  Warren  H.  Wilson. 

The  Commission  brought  about  the  organization 
of  an  interdenominational  body  for  country  church 
work  in  Ohio  as  a  department  of  the  Ohio  Rural 
Life  Association,  whose  President  is  Dr.  W.  O. 
Thompson  of  the  Ohio  State  University.  Insti- 
tutes have  been  held  for  country  ministers,  and  in 
this  work  the  Ohio  State  Sunday  School  Associa- 
tion has  co-operated  effectively.  In  the  same  way 
the  country  church  problems  have  been  introduced 
into  the  programs  of  the  farmers'  institutes. 

Officers  of  the  Commission  have  been  consulted 
during  the  year  as  to  contemplated  surveys,  either 
county,  regional,  or  statewide,  in  Kansas,  Minne- 
sota, Michigan,  Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  Ala- 
bama, New  Jersey,  Illinois,  and  Tennessee,  while 
in  many  other  states  pastors  have  requested  sug- 
gestions for  the  surveys  of  their  parishes.  The 
applications  received  at  the  office  of  the  Commission 
for  reports,  bibliographies,  surveys,  survey  blanks, 
and  pamphlets,  indicate  that  everywhere  the  in- 
terest is  growing.  Demands  for  literature  in- 
creased notably  after  the  Conference  on  church 
and  country  life.  Many  speakers  have  been  sup- 
plied. Correspondence  with  country  ministers  who 
describe  the  conditions  of  their  parishes  and  re- 
quest suggestions  has  grown  to  large  proportions. 

In  addition  to  these  three  principal  achievements, 
the  work  for  the  improvement  of  the  country 
church,  for  which  the  Commission  is  less  directly 


124     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

responsible,  or  not  at  all,  is  scarcely  less  satis- 
factory. It  includes  three  well  attended  country 
life  conferences  held  during  the  year.  The  Inter- 
national Committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations,  national  gatherings  of  the  American 
Sociological  Society,  the  Southern  Sociological 
Congress,  and  the  National  Conference  of  Chari- 
ties and  Correction  have  taken  up  the  consideration 
of  the  country  church  in  such  manner  as  to  make 
it  clear  that  the  rural  church  life  of  the  United 
States  is  beginning  to  receive  a  degree  of  attention 
more  nearly  commensurate  with  its  relative  im- 
portance. 

The  report  of  the  Commission  to  the  quadrennial 
meeting  of  1916  also  presents  a  record  of  de- 
nominational progress  in  this  important  interest. 

That  the  decline  of  rural  churches,  leading  to 
the  decline  of  rural  religion  and  rural  morality  and 
life,  where  it  has  taken  place,  has  been  due  in 
large  measure  to  the  want  of  religious  statesman- 
ship, hardly  admits  of  argument,  and  conversely, 
that  it  calls  for  a  method  which  has  an  eye  single 
to  the  life  of  the  community  rather  than  to  the 
persistence  of  religious  divisions,  is  equally  obvious. 

Inter-Church  Federation 

Local  Inter-Church  Federation  has  had  a  varied 
history,  with  conspicuous  success  and  also  with 
apparent  failures.  As  has  been  already  noted,  the 
Federal  Council,  in  1908,  divided  the  nation  into 
districts  with  district  secretaries  for  the  purpose  of 
organizing  the  state  and  local  federations.     This 


Development  of  Federation  in  Nation     125 

method  was  not  without  marked  success,  but  it 
was  mercurial  because  the  various  communities  and 
localities  differed  widely  in  their  readiness  for 
federation.  This  difficulty  was  frankly  met,  the 
district  system  abolished  and  a  new  method  at- 
tempted. 

The  creative  work  and  the  seed  sowing  of  the 
district  secretaries  had  great  value  and  in  many 
cases  federations  were  organized  and  developed 
successfully,  in  some  cases  to  large  proportions.  It 
was  apparent,  however,  that  what  was  needed  was 
field  secretaries  to  go  out  from  the  national  office 
to  localities  according  to  immediate  conditions  at 
times  which  were  ripe. 

The  Council  of  1912  appointed  a  Commission  on 
State  and  Local  Federations,  its  chairman  being 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  interdenominational  move- 
ments, Professor  Alfred  Williams  Anthony  of 
Maine,  to  give  the  whole  question  adequate  con- 
sideration and  to  proceed  in  the  development  of 
the  spirit  and  practice  of  the  local  federation 
according  to  its  discretion.  This  Commission, 
through  Professor  Anthony,  presented  reports  to 
the  Executive  Committee,  and  finally  to  the  quad- 
rennial meeting  of  1916,  setting  forth  clearly  the 
perils  of  federation,  the  principles  of  federation, 
the  vital  importance  of  securing  denominational 
approval,  the  cultivation  of  denominational  al- 
truism, and  the  needs  of  the  situation  from  a  prac- 
tical point  of  view. 

The  Commission  had  compiled  a  complete  direc- 
tory of  local  church  federations  and  had  widely 
distributed   additional   literature.     Thus   the   new 


126    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

Commission,  finally  established  in  1916,  had  before 
it  a  body  of  experience  and  a  body  of  literature 
secured  by  the  Commission  on  State  and  Local 
Federations. 

Meanwhile  the  Men  and  Religion  Forward 
Movement  had  swept  the  country  and  had  made 
many  fields  white  unto  harvest.  Therefore,  it  was 
the  part  of  statesmanship  to  look  to  the  Director 
and  Executive  Secretary  of  that  movement  for 
leadership,  resulting  in  a  commission  first  called 
the  Commission  on  Federated  Movements,  with 
Fred  B.  Smith  as  Chairman,  Rev.  Roy  B.  Guild 
as  Executive  Secretary  ancl  James  A.  Whitmore 
as  Field  Secretary,  these  three  men  having  had 
the  larger  part  of  the  direction  of  the  Men  and 
Religion  Movement. 

Under  this  Commission  communities  are  ap- 
proached where  the  circumstances  give  promise  of 
effective  procedure.  The  ground  is  prepared  in 
advance  by  adequate  investigation  and  consulta- 
tion. Federations  in  cities  and  towns  of  substantial 
size  are  not  advised,  unless  the  churches  are  ready 
to  take  the  matter  seriously,  to  establish  an  office 
for  the  federation,  to  raise  a  budget,  and  to  employ 
a  secretary.  At  the  present  time  there  are  about 
twenty-five  or  thirty  really  effective  federations.  In 
the  smaller  towns,  where  it  is  not  possible  to  have 
administrative  machinery,  the  commission  recom- 
mends that  the  pastors  and  laymen  shall  give  the 
federation  the  earnest  and  serious  attention  and 
service  which  it  demands.  Local  correspondents 
are  now  being  secured  for  every  city  and  town  in 


Development  of  Federation  in  Nation     127 

the  country.  In  October  a  representative  congress 
will  be  held  at  Pittsburgh  for  which  long  and  care- 
ful preparation  has  been  made  in  the  effort  at 
least  to  approach  the  standardization  of  the  work 
and  functions  of  local  federations. 

The  Commission  was  appointed  as  an  ad  interim 
body  by  the  Executive  Committee,  which  Com- 
mittee at  Richmond  in  1914  had  approved  the 
recommendation  of  the  General  Secretary  that  the 
Administrative  Committee  be  empowered  to  pro- 
vide such  a  Commission. 

With  the  approval  of  the  Administrative  Com- 
mittee, a  conference  was  called  at  Atlantic  City  in 
June,  191 5,  at  which  about  one  hundred  delegates 
were  present,  including  the  following  organizations, 
all  of  which  were  dealing  with  problems  of  local 
federation : 

International  Sunday  School  Association. 

Sunday  School  Council  of  Evangelical  Denomina- 
tions. 

International  Committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Associations. 

National  Board  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations. 

United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor. 

Epworth  League. 

Baptist  Young  People's  Union. 

Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew. 

Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip. 

Denominational  Brotherhoods. 

Organized  Adult  Bible  Class  Movements. 

Laymen's  Missionary  Movement. 

Missionary  Education  Movement. 

Home  Missions  Council. 

Council  of  Women  for  Home  Missions. 


128     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

Religious  Press  Association. 

State  Federations. 

Local  Federations  or  Councils. 

This  Conference  approved  the  Commission  on 
Federated  Movements  and  arranged  a  co-operative 
program  which  should  take  into  account  all  of  the 
agencies  involved  in  a  voluntary  and  unofficial 
way. 

In  its  report  to  the  quadrennial  meeting  of 
191 6  the  Commission  recorded  several  meetings  and 
conferences  and  reported  its  work  as  follows. 

A  thoughtful  survey  of  the  field  had  been  made, 
including  wide  consultation  and  conference.  A 
body  of  literature  had  been  created  setting  forth 
the  results  of  this  survey.  Just  previous  to  the 
quadrennial  meeting  Secretaries  Guild  and  Whit- 
more  had  visited  practically  all  of  the  larger  cities 
west  of  the  Mississippi.  While  no  attempt  was 
made  to  plant  federations,  the  Secretaries  had 
found  many  communities  clearly  ready  either  to 
revive  old  federations  or  to  create  new  ones.  The 
Secretaries  had  filled  appointments  during  the 
previous  six  months  in  the  following  cities: 

Columbus  (2),  Cincinnati,  Dayton  (2),  Oberlin, 
Cleveland,  and  Alliance,  Ohio;  Louisville,  Lexing- 
ton, and  Frankfort,  Kentucky;  Lebanon,  Waynes- 
boro, Wilkes-Barre,  and  Philadelphia,  Pennsyl- 
vania; Sioux  City,  Iowa;  Manhattan  and  Topeka, 
Kansas;  Woodstock  and  Springfield,  Illinois; 
Sioux  Falls,  South  Dakota;  Norwood  (2),  Boston 
(2),  Dorchester,  Amherst,  and  Sagamore,  Massa- 
chusetts; Lincoln,  Nebraska;  Brooklyn,  Pough- 
keepsie,  Troy   (2),  and  Silver  Bay,  New  York; 


Development  of  Federation  in  Nation     129 

Superior,  Milwaukee,  Waukesha,  and  Madison, 
Wisconsin;  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis,  and  Duluth, 
Minnesota ;  Morristown  and  Caldwell,  New  Jersey ; 
St.  Louis  and  Springfield,  Missouri;  Washington, 
D.  C. ;  Indianapolis,  Indiana;  Detroit,  Michigan; 
New  Orleans,  Louisiana;  Atlanta,  Georgia;  Nor- 
wich, Connecticut. 

The  considerable  number  of  cities  which  had 
opened  federation  offices  with  employed  secretaries 
had  led  to  the  organization  of  an  association  of 
executive  secretaries,  thus  establishing  a  new  re- 
ligious order  in  the  United  States.  At  that  time 
there  were  seventeen  such  executive  secretaries,  but 
the  number  has  been  considerably  increased  since 
that  time.  Meanwhile  Secretary  Whitmore  had 
been  preaching  the  gospel  of  federation  largely 
among  educational  institutions  and  at  boys'  work 
conferences. 

At  St.  Louis  in  December,  1916,  the  Commission 
held  a  conference  of  interdenominational  and  re- 
lated denominational  organizations  representatively 
attended  by  something  like  one  hundred  delegates 
from  all  of  the  outstanding  interdenominational 
movements,  to  consider  the  future  program  of  the 
Commission.  Five  sessions  were  held,  at  the  close 
of  which  clear  cut  principles  were  adopted  and  a 
program  projected  which  is  now  in  operation,  in- 
cluding the  change  of  the  name  to  Commission  on 
Inter-Church  Federations  (state  and  local),  pro- 
viding for  regular  conferences  on  the  part  of  the 
interested  bodies,  the  preparation  of  a  calendar  of 
regional  religious  conventions,  the  interchange  of 


130     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

literature  between  the  various  bodies,  as  well  as  the 
major  part  of  the  program,  namely,  the  develop- 
ment and  assistance  of  state  and  local  federations 
of  churches,  the  relationship  between  the  Commis- 
sion and  the  various  interdenominational  bodies  to 
be  voluntary  and  co-operative. 

The  following  statement  of  principles  to  guide 
in  the  co-operative  relations  of  Christian  organiza- 
tions, by  John  R.  Mott,  was  approved: 

I.  To  recognize  the  headship  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 
II.  To  honor  the  independence,  individuality,  and 
autonomy  of  the  Christian  agencies  concerned. 
III.  Each  of  the  agencies  concerned  should  have  a 
clearly  defined  field  and  function,  as  defined  by 
itself. 
IV.  Where  one  agency  is  occupying  and  cultivating 
a  given  field  and  gives  promise  of  doing  so  with 
increasing  acceptance,   no  other  agency  should 
undertake  to  occupy  the  field  or  to  parallel  the 
existing  organization  or  its  activities. 
V.  In  determining  the  sphere  in  which  there  should 
be  co-operation  between  two  or  more  agencies, 
due  regard  should  be  paid:   (i)  to  the  meeting 
of  some  admitted  need  or  a  real  crisis;  (2)   to 
attaining  an  object  that  is  well  worth  while; 
(3)  to  obviating  regrettable  waste;  (4)  to  the 
accomplishment  of  results  which  cannot  be  se- 
cured    as    well    by    these     agencies    working 
separately. 
VI.  Among  independent  Christian  organizations  the 
inviting  of  co-operation  or  the  accepting  of  in- 
vitations to  co-operate  must  be  purely  voluntary, 
as  contrasted   with  having  some  outside  body 
attempt  to  enforce  such  co-operation. 
VII.  To  simplify  the  machinery  of  co-operation  to  its 
lowest  terms. 


Development  of  Federation  in  Nation     131 

VIII.  Recognize  that  the  devised  co-operation  involves 
an  identification  of  interests;  regular,  thorough, 
and  timely  consultation  on  the  part  of  the 
leaders  of  the  organizations  concerned;  mutual 
consent  as  to  such  policies  and  methods  as  are  of 
common  concern;  and  whole-hearted  endeavor 
to  carry  out  the  plans  upon  which  there  has  been 
agreement. 
IX.  Let  the  leaders  be  on  their  guard  with  reference 
to  the  things  in  their  own  lives  which  injure 
co-operation  and  which  make  impossible  real 
spiritual  unity;  for  example,  ignorance  and  pre- 
judice, hazy  thinking  and  vague  statement, 
jealousy,  selfish  ambition,  distrust,  lack  of  frank- 
ness, and  other  sins  of  the  tongue,  political 
scheming  or  finesse,  disloyalty. 

During  the  year  191 7  effective  arrangements 
were  made  for  a  congress  on  the  purpose  and 
methods  of  inter-church  federations,  at  Pittsburgh 
in  October,  from  carefully  prepared  reports  pre- 
sented by  subcommissions,  giving  several  months 
to  their  work,  on  the  following  phases  of  work: — 
principles  and  methods  of  organization,  community 
evangelism,  world  evangelism,  religious  education, 
social  service,  church  comity,  international  jus- 
tice and  good  will,  religious  publicity,  war  time 
inter-church  work.  The  probable  attendance  is 
estimated  from  six  hundred  to  eight  hundred 
delegates,  selected  from  state  and  local  church 
federations,  other  cities  and  towns  which  desire  to 
send  representatives  of  their  churches,  national 
Christian  and  philanthropic  organizations,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Commission  on  Inter-Church  Federa- 
tions, and  the  officials  of  the  Federal  Council  of 
the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,    It  is  proposed 


132    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

to  follow  up  this  Congress,  through  the  delegates 
present,  back  into  their  communities,  to  duplicate 
the  program  of  this  congress  in  as  many  towns  or 
communities  as  possible,  and  to  prepare  a  hand- 
book of  principles  and  methods  of  inter-church 
activities  for  the  guidance  of  local  federations. 
During  the  past  six  months,  Rev.  E.  Guy  Talbott, 
Secretary  of  the  California  State  Federation  of 
Churches,  has  been  visiting  communities  all  over 
the  country  in  the  interest  of  this  congress. 

This  Commission  is  fortunate  in  having,  besides 
the  services  of  its  employed  officers,  the  constant 
attention  and  guidance  of  its  Chairman,  Fred  B. 
Smith,  who,  although  engaged  in  commercial  life, 
reserves  an  unusual  portion  of  his  time  for  Chris- 
tian activities,  and  who  has  now  comprehended  his 
religious  activities  within  the  scope  of  the  work  of 
this  Commission. 

Obviously  the  war  situation,  with  the  concentra- 
tion of  soldiers  in  camps  needing  the  ministry  of 
the  churches,  has  already  increased  the  demand  for 
the  services  of  this  Commission  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  federative  work  among  the  churches  sur- 
rounding these  camps.  The  Commission  will  there- 
fore, during  the  next  few  months,  give  its  major 
attention  to  these  committees  in  co-operation  with 
the  War  Work  Commission  of  the  Federal  Council 
and  the  national  commissions  appointed  by  its  con- 
stituent bodies. 

The  services  of  the  Commission  and  its  staff  are 
given  freely  to  communities  seeking  them,  but  the 
Commission  prefers  to  be  sought  because  this  is 
an  indication  that  the  field  is  ready  in  a  given  lo- 


Development  of  Federation  in  Nation     133 

cality.  The  Commission  is  even  willing  to  assist 
local  communities  in  securing  executive  secretaries 
and  raising  their  budgets,  although  in  the  nature  of 
the  case  the  community  itself  and  its  churches  are 
expected  to  exercise  self -development.  Indeed,  as 
has  been  indicated,  it  is  clearly  recognized  that  a 
local  church  federation  is  something  to  grow  up 
from  within  rather  than  to  be  implanted  from 
without. 

The  task  and  aim  of  this  Commission  have  been 
set  forth  in  the  call  for  the  Congress  at  Pittsburgh : 

The  Congress  will  be  held  in  recognition  of  five 
pressing  demands  manifested  by  the  Churches  and 
Christian  Organizations  in  every  part  of  the  country. 

First:  The  growing  conception  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  as  related  to  the  entire  community.  The  clearest 
visioned  leaders  of  religious  work  have  come  to  under- 
stand that  the  problem  of  the  Church  and  all  its  varied 
organizations  is  to  Christianize  the  entire  community 
rather  than  alone  to  build  up  individual  churches  and 
societies.  The  realization  of  this  ideal  is  possible  only 
by  the  united  effort  of  all  the  Christian  forces. 

Second:  The  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  com- 
plete Christian  program  is  possible  only  by  co-operative 
effort.  That  the  older  and  primary  duties  of  the  in- 
dividual Church  are  not  to  be  neglected  is  everywhere 
acknowledged,  but  the  more  modern  developments 
have  also  revealed  vast  opportunities  which  will  be 
neglected  unless  they  are  met  by  the  combined  forces 
of  all  the  churches. 

Third:  That  all  the  cities  and  towns  of  the  country 
may  have  the  benefit  of  the  experiences  of  the  workers 
in  the  cities  where  this  form  of  Christian  effort  has 
been  undertaken.  Inter-Church  Committees  and  Fed- 
erations have  been  springing  up  in  many  places  in  re- 
sponse to   this   growing  sentiment.      Some   have   sue- 


134    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

ceeded  admirably,  others  are  languishing  for  want  of 
direction.  The  Congress  will  seek  to  impart  the  best 
knowledge  gained  by  the  study  of  plans  that  have 
worked  and  also  give  strong  warning  of  methods  which 
have  hitherto  failed. 

Fourth:  To  reveal  a  Christian  program  worthy  of 
the  demands  to  be  made  upon  organized  Christianity 
by  modern  life.  The  world  has  yet  to  learn  how  to 
live  in  permanent  peace.  The  final  platform  for  this 
life  will  be  based  upon  the  great  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity. Indeed,  the  present  World  War  is  the  great- 
est summons  Christian  men  have  ever  had  to  perform 
the  physical  and  intellectual  duties  of  citizenship  and 
at  the  same  time  the  duty  of  keeping  alive  the  spiritual 
message  of  the  Gospel. 

Fifth:  To  issue  a  hand-book  of  methods  of  inter- 
church  work.  No  comprehensive  text  book  upon  this 
form  of  Christian  effort  is  in  existence.  The  call  for 
one  is  widespread.  Out  of  the  reports  of  sub-commis- 
sions, the  platform  addresses  and  discussions,  a  care- 
fully prepared  manual  will  be  published. 

That  our  cities  and  towns,  with  the  problems  of 
modern  life,  need  churches  of  Christ,  not  only 
living  in  semi-isolated  fraternity  and  good  will,  but 
as  one  active,  living  organism,  is  now  a  con- 
viction that  is  taking  hold  of  our  whole  municipal 
and  community  life. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  FOR  CHAPTER  V 

Christian  Unity  at  Work; — The  Churches  of 
Christ  in  Time  of  War; — Christian  Co-operation  and 
World  Redemption; — Manual  on  the  Purpose  and 
Methods  of  Inter-Church  Federations; — The  Coun- 
try Church,  Gill  and  Pinchot; — The  Church  and 
Country  Life; — Christian  Service  in  the  Modern 
World,   Macfarland. 

Annual  Reports  of  the  Home  Missions  Council. 


VI 

CHRISTIAN  CO-OPERATION  IN  FOREIGN 
MISSIONS  AND  INTERNATIONAL  RE- 
LATIONS 

Foreign  Missions 

BOTH  at  the  Inter-Church  Conference  and  at 
the  first  meeting  of  the  Federal  Council, 
the  fact  was  emphasized  that  the  Chris- 
tian churches  in  foreign  fields  were  leading  us  in 
church  co-operation  and  federation,  and  the  writer 
has  sometimes  asserted  that  in  large  measure  co- 
operation and  federation  at  home  was  a  reflex  ac- 
tion from  the  foreign  field. 

At  Philadelphia  in  1908  and  at  Chicago  in  1912, 
reports  were  presented  by  the  Committee  on 
Foreign  Missions,  prepared  by  a  great  missionary 
statesman,  Rev.  James  L.  Barton,  which  were 
startling  in  the  highest  degree,  and  which  did  per- 
haps as  much  to  stimulate  the  whole  spirit  of  the 
Council  as  any  reports  presented.  Even  the  first 
of  these  reports  was  a  striking  revelation  to  men 
who  had  not  followed  closely  the  course  of  foreign 
missions,  and  when  Robert  E.  Speer  proceeded,  as 
Chairman  of  the  Commission  on  Foreign  Missions, 
to  prepare  the  report  of  19 16,  he  called  the  writer 
over  the  telephone  to  say  that  he  was  amazed  at 
the  magnitude  of  the  material  which  he  found  at 

135 


136     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

his  disposal  although  he  is  perhaps  as  thoroughly 
informed  as  any  of  our  missionary  statesmen  re- 
garding the  foreign  field. 

The  report  of  this  Commission  is  of  course  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  the  other  Commissions  of  the 
Council  in  that  it  does  not  relate  to  the  work  of 
the  Council  itself  as  an  organization.  There  is, 
however,  little  doubt  but  what  the  development  of 
the  Federal  Council  and  the  backing  which  it  has 
given  to  federation  in  the  foreign  field  has  been 
of  value  in  that  field.  The  Commission,  however, 
has  recognized  the  existence  of  the  Conference  of 
Foreign  Mission  Boards  of  North  America,  com- 
posed of  representatives  of  those  Boards,  as  the 
logical  body  for  this  work,  except  that  the  Federal 
Council  is  charged  with  the  duty,  first  of  all  of 
stimulating  the  interest  of  the  churches  in  foreign 
missions  and,  what  is  of  still  more  importance,  of 
encouraging  the  denominational  boards  at  home  to 
approve  and  to  foster  the  work  of  co-operation  and 
federation  in  the  foreign  field. 

The  Council  of  191 6  appointed  a  Committee  on 
Foreign  Missions,  of  which  Rev.  William  I.  Cham- 
berlain is  chairman,  and  approved  the  following 
recommendation  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen. 


"We  recommend  that  the  above-constituted  com- 
mittee on  Foreign  Missions  be  instructed  to  confer 
with  the  Conference  of  Foreign  Mission  Boards 
through  its  committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel,  and 
that  this  committee  be  empowered  to  establish  such 
relationship  with  that  conference  as  may  serve  the 
largest  interests  involved.  We  recommend  that  the 
Conference  of  Foreign  Mission  Boards  be  invited  to 


Co-operation  in  Foreign  Missions     137 

present,  annually  and  biennially  or  quadrennially,  re- 
ports to  the  Federal  Council  such  as  have  been  pre- 
viously presented  by  the  Commission  on  Foreign 
Missions." 

Conference  is  now  being  held  between  the  of- 
ficers of  the  Federal  Council  and  those  of  the 
Conference  of  Foreign  Mission  Boards  as  to  how 
this  co-operation  may  be  effected  in  view  of  all 
the  interests  involved. 

The  report  of  the  Commission  on  Foreign  Mis- 
sions prepared  by  Robert  E.  Speer,  now  Chairman 
of  the  War  Work  Commission  of  the  Federal 
Council,  presented  to  the  quadrennial  meeting  of 
1 916,  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  every  pastor, 
both  for  encouragement  and  guidance.  To  present 
a  digest  of  it  is  impossible  because,  in  itself,  it  is 
in  brief  the  history  of  a  wonderful  transforma- 
tion, out  in  the  foreign  field,  of  ecclesiastical 
methods. 

The  report  begins  by  calling  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  Foreign  Mission  agencies  of  the  American 
Churches  had  established  intimate  co-operative  rela- 
tions before  the  Federal  Council  was  organized, 
and  it  is  recommended  that  instead  of  a  Commis- 
sion on  Foreign  Missions  after  the  order  of  the 
other  Commissions  of  the  Council,  arrangements  be 
made  for  such  co-operative  relations  with  the 
Foreign  Missions  Conference  and  its  Committee  of 
Reference  and  Counsel  as  to  meet  the  needs  of  a 
Department  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Federal 
Council. 

The  report  states  that  when  the  Commission  be- 
gan its  preparation  it   was   under  the  impression 


138     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

that  there  would  not  be  much  to  chronicle  in  the 
way  of  new  co-operative  movements  during  the 
last  four  years.  As  the  material  has  accumulated, 
however,  the  Commission  has  been  surprised  at 
the  extent  to  which,  during  these  years,  the  prin- 
ciple of  co-operation  has  been  carried,  and  rejoices 
to  lay  before  the  Council  the  astonishing  evidence 
of  the  prevalence  of  the  spirit  of  unity  and  co- 
operation throughout  the  work  of  foreign  missions. 

The  story  is  then  given  in  brief,  beginning  with 
the  work  of  the  Continuation  Committee  of  the 
Edinburgh  Conference  which  had  been  appointed 
at  the  same  time  as  the  last  Federal  Council.  This 
Committee  has  published  without  interruption  the 
International  Review  of  Missions  and  conducted 
through  its  Chairman,  John  R.  Mott,  in  191 2- 13, 
a  series  of  twenty-one  interdenominational  confer- 
ences in  the  Far  East.  Provision  had  been  made 
for  committees  of  co-operation  in  these  districts, 
which  had  already  proceeded  with  remarkable  ef- 
fectiveness. The  Punjab  Council  had  even  decided 
that  all  action  by  the  newly  constituted  Council 
should  not  be  simply  advisory,  but  unanimously 
affirmed  its  decision  that  the  recognition  of  the 
standards  of  comity  should  be  a  condition  of 
the  admission  of  a  mission  to  membership  in  the 
Council,  refusing  to  reverse  this  decision,  even  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  National  Council. 

The  Bengal  and  Assam  Council  in  191 6  took  the 
following  action: 

"That  while  the  right  of  Christians  to  the  minis- 
trations of  their  own  communion  is  recognized,  and 
while  congregations  or  small  gatherings  of  Christians 


Co-operation  in  Foreign  Missions     139 

isolated  from  their  own  communion  and  located  in  an 
area  already  occupied  by  some  recognized  mission 
should  be  free  to  engage  in  any  Christian  work  of 
which  they  are  capable,  the  existence  or  activities  of 
such  congregations  should  not  be  regarded  as  war- 
ranting any  missionary  society  in  undertaking  mis- 
sionary operations  in  that  field." 

China  was  reported  as  having  greatly  strength- 
ened its  co-operative  relationships.  In  Japan  the 
already  strong  federations  had  developed  with  re- 
markable progress. 

The  next  section  of  the  report  dealt  with  the 
Panama  Congress  and  co-operation  in  Latin 
America,  and  the  plans  adopted  by  the  Conference 
of  Missionaries  and  Missionary  Boards  working  in 
Mexico  in  19 14,  and  which  had  gone  a  long  way 
in  extending  the  principles  of  co-operation  and 
unity  into  its  practical  work.  The  Panama  Congress 
had  also  created  a  Continuation  Committee  of  the 
Congress.  The  plans  of  this  Committee,  already  in 
operation,  are  of  great  moment  in  the  history  of 
federation. 

The  annual  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of 
North  America  was  reported  as  having  increased 
greatly  both  in  interest  and  in  influence  during  the 
quadrennium,  through  the  appointment  of  effec- 
tively working  committees  under  the  direction  of 
the  General  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel. 

Union  churches  in  Anglo-American  communities 
had  increased  their  numbers,  being  provided  with 
pastors  by  a  committee  of  the  Foreign  Missions 
Conference.  The  Federation  of  Women's  Boards 
of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  United  States  had  or- 


140     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

ganized  a  General  Advisory  Commission  and  four 
territorial  commissions,  with  headquarters  in  New 
York,  Chicago,  San  Francisco  and  Nashville,  had 
published  the  magazine  "Everyland,"  not  only  in 
English,  but  in  Chinese  at  Shanghai,  and  during 
the  summer  of  1914  the  Federation  had  conducted 
twenty-four  summer  schools  for  missions  with  a 
registration  of  over  8000. 

The  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  appointed 
by  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  was  reported 
as  having  already  rendered  a  service  which  no  de- 
nominational agency  could  possibly  have  rendered. 

The  review  of  interdenominational  missionary 
movements  at  home  was  encouraging.  The  Lay- 
men's Missionary  Movement  had  conducted  during 
the  quadrennium  two  great  missionary  campaigns, 
one  of  which,  although  conducted  in  spite  of  the 
European  war,  held  conventions  in  sixty-nine  cities. 

The  Missionary  Education  Movement  had  not 
only  facilitated,  for  all  the  denominations,  the 
production  and  distribution  of  missionary  litera- 
ture, but  during  the  summer  of  1916  had  held 
seven  summer  conferences  attended  by  1633  dele- 
gates. 

The  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Associations  had  extended  their  co-operative 
work  in  various  fields,  new  secretaries  had  been 
sent  out,  new  buildings  erected  in  India  by  the 
Young  Women's  Association,  the  social  work  had 
been  extended  and  in  Tokyo  special  service  ren- 
dered to  factory  employees  and  nurses.  New  city 
associations  had  been  established  in  China.  The 
Young   Women's    Christian   Association  had   also 


Co-operation  in  Foreign  Missions     141 

developed  its  work  in  Latin  America.  Likewise, 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  had  ex- 
tended its  co-operative  activities  in  many  directions. 
The  student  associations  in  the  government  and 
mission  schools  now  number  136  in  China  alone, 
with  a  membership  of  10,572,  of  whom  7612  were 
in  Bible  classes  last  year  and  1086  were  led  into 
church  membership. 

There  have  been  many  new  co-operative  move- 
ments in  missionary  literature. 

Important  movements  of  church  unification  at 
home  were  reported  as  having  far-reaching  effect 
upon  the  mission  field,  where  in  many  cases  they 
may  have  preceded  and  helped  to  induce  the  home 
movements.  In  any  event,  it  is  clear  from  the  atti- 
tude and  utterance  and  the  practical  procedure  of 
the  missionary  churches  that  they  will  not  stand  in 
the  way  of  the  program  of  unification  at  home. 
The  report  presents  in  full  many  of  these  utter- 
ances from  the  foreign  field  which  are  exhilarat- 
ing to  anyone  who  believes  in  unity,  but  the  put- 
ting of  these  principles  into  actual  practice  is  the 
really  interesting  part  of  the  story  that  comes  from 
the  India  National  Conference,  the  Canton  Con- 
ference, the  China  National  Conference,  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  In- 
dia, the  South  India  United  Church,  and  other 
similar  bodies. 

In  Japan  a  three  years'  evangelistic  campaign 
was  the  outgrowth  of  the  Continuation  Committee 
Conference.  In  China  the  United  Church  in  the 
Fukien  Province  is  negotiating  with  the  churches 


142     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

associating  with  the  London  Mission  with  a  view 
to  definite  organic  union. 

In  the  Philippine  Islands,  where  advanced  princi- 
ples of  union  and  co-operation  have  prevailed 
from  the  beginning  of  the  missionary  occupation, 
these  principles  have  during  the  last  four  years 
been  put  into  far  more  effective  action. 

The  Kikuyu  Conference  in  Africa,  while  its  basis 
of  federation  was  somewhat  qualified  on  the  part 
of  the  Church  of  England  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  represented  nevertheless  a  great  step 
in  advance. 

The  report  reflects  also  upon  the  significance  of 
some  of  the  movements  in  the  last  quadrennium  in 
the  direction  of  rapprochement  between  the  non- 
Christian  religions,  as  signs  of  the  dawn  of  a 
national  consciousness  transcending  social  and  re- 
ligious differences. 

The  story  of  co-operation  in  missionary  educa- 
tion on  the  foreign  field,  which  was  startling 
enough  in  the  report  to  the  Chicago  Council,  was 
still  more  remarkable  in  this  report,  and  should 
perhaps  be  seriously  referred  to  the  next  confer- 
ence of  representatives  of  American  theological 
seminaries  as  a  possible  solution  of  some  of  their 
problems.  It  may  be  that  the  Christian  University 
at  Cairo  will  offer  some  help  to  the  problem  now 
facing  our  denominational  colleges. 

Even  co-operation  in  medical  missions  and  in 
philanthropic  service,  which  had  become  four  years 
ago  more  than  obvious  as  a  requirement  for  mis- 
sionary work  in  the  foreign  field,  had  gone  on  still 
farther,  one  of  its   striking  examples  being  the 


Co-operation  in  Foreign  Missions     143 

service  of  the  Armenian  and  Syrian  Relief  Com- 
mittee. 

There  was  the  same  story  of  progress  concern- 
ing language  schools  and  schools  for  missionaries' 
children,  co-operation  in  Sunday  school  work 
largely  through  the  World's  Sunday  School  Asso- 
ciation, and  the  report  closes  with  these  words: 

"The  events  of  the  last  two  years  have  made  human- 
ity deeply  conscious  of  its  unity.  Nations  have  been 
forced  to  give  up  the  idea  that  they  could  live  isolated 
from  the  rest  of  mankind  or  with  their  national  in- 
terests detached  from  the  broad  movements  of  human- 
ity. To  the  uttermost  corner  of  the  world  the  in- 
fluence of  the  European  War  has  extended.  Mankind 
recognizes  that  it  is  one  body  in  which  each  member 
must  suffer  or  profit  with  every  other  member.  The 
common  experiences  of  all  men  have  been  so  deep  and 
piercing  as  to  eclipse  their  isolated  and  partisan  ex- 
periences. The  unity  of  human  history  and  of  human 
life  has  asserted  itself  against  all  that  separates  U. 
These  unifying  forces  have  collided  with  the  preju- 
diced tendencies  of  division.  They  have  not  collided 
with  the  enterprise  of  foreign  missions.  It  has  always 
been  a  movement  of  co-operation  and  unity.  It  has 
preached  the  doctrine  of  the  one  God  and  Father  and 
the  one  Redeemer  and  Lord  of  men,  and  the  one  body 
and  brotherhood  of  mankind.  It  has  proclaimed  the 
duty  of  international  sympathy  and  goodwill.  ^  Even 
in  the  midst  of  the  divisions  and  misunderstandings  of 
war  it  has  preserved  the  catholic  mind  and  the  Chris- 
tian spirit,  and  has  held  up  before  the  schisms  the 
loyalty  of  its  unity.  In  China,  where  the  Continental 
missions  suffered  great  distress  because  of  the  cutting 
off  of  their  supplies,  the  missionary  agencies  of  other 
lands  took  up  the  burden.  In  India  the  American 
Lutherans  came  to  the  aid  of  German  missions,  while 
the   entire   mission   body   in    India   assessed   itself   for 


144     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

funds  for  the  relief  of  German  missionaries  who  might 
be  in  need.  To  relieve  the  strain  of  misunderstanding 
between  Japan  and  the  United  States,  and  to  maintain 
the  traditional  relationships  of  common  understanding 
and  friendship,  a  substantial  contribution  was  made  in 
response  to  the  call  of  the  missionaries  by  the  sending 
of  Dr.  Mathews,  the  President  of  the  Federal  Council, 
and  Dr.  Gulick  as  a  commission  of  goodwill  from  the 
churches  of  America.  The  Christian  churches  work- 
ing together  in  the  missionary  enterprise  confront  to- 
day both  the  privilege  and  the  duty  of  unique  service 
to  humanity  which  needs  above  all  else  that  principle 
of  service  and  of  unity  and  of  love,  of  which  the  enter- 
prise of  foreign  missions  is  the  purest  expression." 

It  would  not  be  inappropriate  in  this  connection 
to  refer  to  the  action  of  the  missionaries  of  Japan 
in  memorializing  the  Federal  Council  with  a  peti- 
tion which  brought  about  the  appointment  of  the 
Commission  on  Relations  with  Japan,  and  at  the 
Federal  Council  of  1916  the  enlargement  of  this 
Commission  to  a  Commission  on  Relations  with 
the  Orient.  That  story,  however,  will  appear  in 
the  next  section.  Reference  is  made  to  it  at  this 
point  to  indicate  the  significance  of  relationships 
in  international  affairs  between  two  such  bodies  as 
the  Federal  Council  of  Japan  and  the  Federal 
Council  of  America. 

At  the  special  meeting  of  the  Federal  Council  in 
Washington  in  1917  Dr.  Speer,  speaking  on  the 
War  and  the  Nation's  Larger  Call  to  World 
Evangelism,  not  only  urged  with  earnestness  that 
the  foreign  mission  work  of  the  churches  should 
be  increased  in  view  of  the  situation,  but  made  it 
clear  that  in  the  process  of  reconciliation  and  re- 


Co-operation  in  Foreign  Missions     145 

construction  the  Christian  bodies  in  all  these  lands 
must  act  unitedly  and  that  we  have  open,  in  mis- 
sionary enterprise,  free  channels  for  interdenomina- 
tional and  international  and  interracial  service,  not 
to  be  abridged,  but  to  be  extended.  And  the  new 
and  immediate  task  of  Foreign  Missions  is  more 
than  ever  inseparable  from  Christian  co-operation 
and  unity  of  action. 

International  Relations 

International  Peace  was  one  of  the  objects  of 
the  proposed  federation,  set  forth  at  the  pre- 
liminary conference  in  1905,  by  Chief  Justice 
David  J.  Brewer.  At  the  first  official  meeting  of 
the  Council  in  1908  a  Committee  on  International 
Relations,  of  which  Hon.  Henry  Wade  Rogers  was 
the  Chairman,  presented  a  report  which  was  prob- 
ably the  first  utterance  of  its  kind  on  the  part  of 
the  churches,  and  which  prophesied  some  of  the 
movements  now  under  serious  consideration  by  the 
nations,  as  substitutes  for  war.  At  this  meeting  the 
second  Sunday  in  May  was  established  as  Peace 
Sunday. 

In  the  summer  of  191 1  the  present  General 
Secretary  of  the  Federal  Council  held  conferences 
with  representatives  of  the  churches  in  Great 
Britain  and  Germany,  and  in  October  191 1  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Council  appointed  a 
Commission  on  Peace  and  Arbitration,  with  Rev. 
J.  B.  Remensnyder  as  chairman,  and  Rev.  Fred- 
erick Lynch  as  secretary,  this  action  being  con- 
firmed by  the  Council  in  1912. 


146     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

The  first  activity  of  the  Commission  was  in  re- 
lation to  the  peace  treaties  between  the  nations, 
and  new  literature  was  created  and  widely  dis- 
tributed. Dr.  Lynch  visited  Europe,  attended 
several  international  congresses,  and  upon  his  re- 
turn in  1912  proposed  to  the  Federal  Council,  in 
session  at  Chicago,  a  comprehensive  program  which 
was  approved  and  which  included  the  organization 
of  a  general  Church  Peace  League  or  Union,  as 
well  as  an  international  movement  among  the 
churches  of  the  various  nations.  In  the  year  1913 
Peace  Sunday  was  widely  observed  by  the  churches, 
for  the  first  time.  In  April  the  Federal  Council 
appointed  a  special  Day  of  Prayer  for  the  Re- 
public of  China,  and  leading  officials  of  the  Council 
participated  in  the  memorial  to  the  Czar  of  Russia, 
asking  him  to  withdraw  the  murder  accusation 
against  the  Jew,  Mendel  Beilis.  The  most  im- 
portant procedure  of  this  year,  however,  was  the 
establishment  of  the  Church  Peace  Union,  of 
which  the  Secretary  of  the  Commission,  Dr.  Lynch, 
became  the  Secretary. 

The  year  1914,  or  at  least  the  early  part  of  that 
year,  was  one  of  important  movements.  In  Jan- 
uary 1914,  the  Administrative  Committee  of  the 
Federal  Council  approved  the  recommendation  of 
the  Commission  on  Peace  and  Arbitration,  author- 
izing the  Secretaries  of  the  Council  to  participate 
in  the  movement  which  resulted  in  the  Church 
Peace  Conference  at  Constance  and  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  World  Alliance  for  Promoting  Inter- 
national Friendship  through  the  Churches. 

During  this  year  also  the  special  commission  on 


International  Relations  147 

Relations  with  Japan  was  appointed.  Rev.  Henry 
K.  Carroll  was  appointed  as  the  representative  of 
the  Commission  at  Washington  and  Rev.  Sidney 
L.  Gulick  as  a  general  representative  on  Interna- 
tional Relations. 

When,  in  April,  disturbances  had  arisen  in  our 
relations  with  Mexico,  the  Commission  held  a 
largely  attended  meeting  which  memorialized  the 
President,  putting  "on  record  our  steadfast  friend- 
ship for  the  Mexican  people,  and  to  express  our 
sympathy  with  them  in  the  disorders  which  now 
trouble  their  country.  That  a  way  out  of  their 
distresses  may  be  found  is  our  earnest  and  constant 
hope.  We  wish  them  prosperity  and  peace."  The 
memorial  was  expressed  in  very  clear  cut  terms, 
and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  not  with- 
out influence  in  the  situation. 

The  Administrative  Committee  of  the  Council 
authorized  the  appointment  of  Rev.  Charles  S. 
Macfarland  and  Rev.  Sidney  L.  Gulick  as  executive 
delegates  and  about  forty-five  other  Christian 
leaders  as  delegates,  to  the  Church  Peace  Congress 
to  be  held  at  Constance  in  August. 

Meanwhile  the  Federal  Council  had  appointed  a 
Church  Committee  on  the  American  Peace  Cen- 
tenary, which  was  getting  actively  at  work. 

Various  official  actions  were  taken,  both  by  the 
Commission  and  the  Council,  including  the  signing 
by  the  President  and  General  Secretary  of  an 
appeal  to  the  churches  prepared  by  the  Archbishop 
of  Upsala,  Sweden,  resolutions  sent  to  the  suffering 
nations  and  churches  abroad,  resolutions  of  sym- 


148    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

pathy  sent  to  the  Hebrew  brethren  abroad,   and 
other  similar  appropriate  actions. 

The  report  of  the  Commission  relative  to  the 
International  Church  Peace  Conference  at  Con- 
stance and  London  is  of  deep  interest  and  signi- 
ficance. The  Conference  had  met  on  Sunday, 
August  2,  1914,  and  had  continued  its  meeting  later 
in  that  week  at  London.  The  Federal  Council 
delegation  had  held  a  meeting  and  presented  a 
report  to  the  Council  frankly  recognizing  the  situa- 
tion, but  holding  steadfast  to  conviction  and  hope. 

Upon  the  return  of  the  Secretaries  from  Europe, 
a  message  was  conveyed  to  the  President,  express- 
ing appreciation  of  his  offer  to  serve  as  mediator, 
earnestly  hoping  that  the  American  people  and  insti- 
tutions would  not  pursue  a  course  tending  to  pro- 
long the  war,  urging  upon  the  churches  of  all  the 
nations  every  possible  reduction  of  the  horrors  of 
war,  endorsing  the  general  principles  of  the  peace 
treaties  in  process  of  ratification  by  the  nations, 
and  especially  requesting  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  appoint  a  Day  of  Prayer  for  the 
nation.  The  President  complied  with  this  request, 
a  Day  of  Prayer  was  appointed  for  October  4,  and 
a  call  to  prayer  was  issued  jointly  by  the  officers 
of  the  Federal  Council  and  the  Church  Peace 
Union.  Printed  prayers  were  widely  distributed 
and  the  correspondence  at  that  time  from  Europe, 
including  Berlin,  stated  that  this  action  had  great 
moral  effect  on  the  other  side  of  the  water.  The 
War  Relief  Movement  was  immediately  taken  up 
by  the  Council  and  other  similar  efforts  continued. 

Perhaps  the  most  significant  matter  in  the  report 


International  Relations  149 

for  the  year  1914,  was  the  organization  of  the 
World  Alliance  for  Promoting  International 
Friendship  through  the  Churches,  which  had  been 
determined  upon  the  very  day  the  war  broke  out 
at  Constance,  further  provisions  for  which  were 
made  at  the  adjourned  meeting  in  London,  and 
which  was  perfected  by  conferences  held  under 
mutual  arrangement  both  in  this  country  and  the 
European  countries  during  the  latter  part  of  1914. 

For  the  year  191 5  the  report  is  mainly  that  of 
co-operation  with  three  other  commissions:  the 
Commission  on  Christian  Education,  the  Commis- 
sion on  Relations  with  Japan,  and  the  American 
Peace  Centenary  Committee. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  a  comprehensive 
program  had  been  set  forth  in  a  book  prepared  for 
the  Commission  on  Peace  and  Arbitration  by  Dr. 
Gulick  entitled  "The  Fight  for  Peace.,,  The  Com- 
mission on  Christian  Education  had  prepared  and 
distributed  the  Sunday  school  peace  lessons  and 
the  handbook  for  Sunday  school  teachers.  A 
representative  of  the  Bulgarian  Churches,  Pastor 
D.  N.  FurnajiefT  of  Sofia,  had  been  sent  about  the 
country  to  deliver  addresses  and  hold  conferences. 

During  the  year  the  Federal  Council  had  sub- 
mitted to  the  International  Committee  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  propositions 
for  the  distribution  of  Christian  literature  among 
prisoners  of  war  in  Europe.  The  Week  of  Prayer 
subjects  for  1916  were  upon  the  subject  of  Peace 
and  Unity. 

A  widely  representative  committee  had  been  ap- 
pointed by  the  Executive  Committee  to  co-operate 


150     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

with  the  American  Peace  Centenary  Committee 
made  up  of  eminent  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
with  Rev.  Henry  K.  Carroll  as  Chairman  and  Rev. 
Frederick  Lynch  as  Secretary.  This  Committee 
selected  Sunday,  February  14,  as  the  Sunday  to 
celebrate  the  ratification  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent. 
Although  the  National  Citizens'  Committee  prac- 
tically gave  up  its  celebration,  the  Church  Com- 
mittee decided  to  carry  it  through.  A  special  pro- 
gram was  prepared  for  the  Sunday  schools;  co- 
operation was  secured  from  the  young  people's 
societies ;  and  material  was  furnished  the  preachers 
for  use  in  preparing  sermons  and  addresses  on  the 
special  Sunday  selected.  The  war  situation,  how- 
ever, limited  the  observance  of  this  day  and  of  the 
occasion  in  general. 

International  relations  have  considerable  place 
in  the  report  of  the  General  Secretary  for  the  year 
191 5.  Constant  correspondence  had  been  carried 
on  with  representative  leaders  of  the  European 
churches.  Representatives  of  the  French  Protes- 
tant Churches  and  of  the  French  and  Belgian 
Home  Mission  organizations  had  been  received  at 
the  orifices  of  the  Council.  War  relief  movements 
had  been  pursued  in  many  directions,  and  Sunday, 
November  14,  appointed  especially  in  behalf  of  the 
Armenians. 

The  General  Secretary  reported  similarly  for  the 
year  1916,  especially  regarding  his  own  visit  to 
Europe.  The  War  Sufferers'  Relief  Campaign 
had  been  persistently  pursued.  Aid  had  been  se- 
cured for  the  Huguenot  churches  of  France  and 
the  report  contained  in  the  volume  entitled  "The 


International  Relations  151 

Church  and  International  Relations,"  Parts  I  and 
II,  reprints  letters  of  appreciation  from  Christian 
leaders  in  all  parts  of  Europe  which  are  dis- 
tinctively interesting. 

In  November,  at  the  request  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  League  to  Enforce  Peace,  the 
writer  of  this  volume  had  entered  into  wireless 
correspondence  with  Chancellor  Von  Bethmann 
Hollweg  requesting  a  statement  on  the  part  of 
Germany  as  to  the  attitude  of  the  German  govern- 
ment toward  a  League  of  Nations  to  prevent  future 
wars.  The  Chancellor  replied  to  this  request,  first 
by  an  address  before  the  Reichstag  November, 
1916,  and  then  in  a  message  through  the  German 
Ambassador,  stating  that  this  address  was  his  re- 
sponse to  the  inquiry.  In  response  to  a  similar 
wireless  inquiry  addressed  to  Professor  Adolf 
Deissmann,  a  long  wireless  message  had  been  re- 
ceived from  Professor  Deissmann  expressing  his 
belief  that  the  German  people  were  more  and  more 
inclined  towards  the  principle  of  arbitration,  and 
that  they  supported  the  attitude  expressed  by  the 
Chancellor  relative  to  a  League  of  Nations. 

During  the  years  1916  and  191 7  the  American 
Council  of  the  World  Alliance  has  been  in  a  process 
of  rapid  development.  The  Church  Peace  Union, 
in  addition  to  its  own  normal  educative  work,  had 
offered  support  toward  the  development  of  the 
World  Alliance.  At  this  point,  however,  attention 
should  be  called  to  the  distinctive  work  of  the 
Church  Peace  Union  itself  as  recorded  in  "The 
Church  and  International  Relations,"  Parts  3  and 
4.     Much  of  the  work  previously  recorded  had 


152     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

received  not  only  co-operation  from  the  Church 
Peace  Union,  but  financial  and  moral  support. 
Among  its  own  independent  activities  during  the 
past  three  years  since  its  creation,  had  been  the 
prize  essays  on  Peace,  the  publication  and  distribu- 
tion of  a  great  variety  of  literature,  the  issuing  of 
appropriate  messages  to  the  churches,  the  pursuit 
of  inquiries  among  the  churches  as  to  the  attitude 
of  the  pastors  and  of  the  churches  in  general,  the 
holding  of  conferences,  secretarial  visits  to  theo- 
logical seminaries,  the  holding  of  peace  institutes, 
the  development  of  localized  work  m  several  im- 
portant cities,  the  holding  of  the  International 
Peace  Congress  in  San  Francisco,  and  participa- 
tion in  conferences  in  co-operation  with  the  World 
Alliance  and  the  Commission  of  the  Federal  Coun- 
cil. The  Church  Peace  Union  had  also  furthered 
the  organizations  in  other  countries,  rendered  them 
financial  and  moral  support,  and  arranged  for  con- 
stant visitation  to  them. 

The  volume  entitled  "The  Church  and  Interna- 
tional Relations,"  volume  3  of  the  Library  of 
Christian  Co-operation,  tells  an  interesting  story  of 
the  international  organization  of  the  World  Al- 
liance. The  international  organizer,  Professor  B. 
F.  Battin,  has  been  constantly  visiting  the  Christian 
leaders  of  all  the  nations  in  Europe  ever  since  the 
war  broke  out.  National  organizations  have  been 
formed  in  Great  Britain,  France,  Germany,  Italy, 
Switzerland,  Holland,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Norway, 
Russia  and  Finland,  and  these  bodies  are  pursuing 
their  work  with,  of  course,  varying  success.  In 
August,    19 1 5,    the    International    Committee   had 


International  Relations  153 

held  a  meeting  at  Berne,  attended  by  representa- 
tives of  several  nations,  including  Germany  and 
Great  Britain.  At  this  meeting  the  World  Alliance 
proceeded  to  final  organization. 

Four  publications  are  issued:  "Goodwill,",  by 
the  British  Alliance;  "Die  Eiche,"  by  the  German 
Alliance,  "International  Christendom,"  by  the 
Dutch  Alliance,  and  "Freds-varden,"  by  the  organi- 
zation in  Denmark.  The  international  organizer, 
Professor  Battin,  returns  from  time  to  time  both 
to  London  and  to  America,  to  report  to  the  in- 
ternational secretaries  and  sections  of  the  Interna- 
tional Committees,  in  those  countries. 

The  American  Council  of  the  World  Alliance 
first  came  together  at  Garden  City,  L.  I.,  in  April, 
1916.  After  the  conference,  in  the  course  of  which 
there  were  many  notable  utterances  by  the  150  or 
more  delegates  present,  resolutions  were  passed 
urging  an  effective  program  for  international 
justice  and  goodwill  among  the  churches,  the  care- 
ful study  of  the  Oriental  problem  and  other  simi- 
lar measures,  an  Executive  Committee  created  and 
a  campaign  of  education  authorized  which  has 
since  been  conducted  under  the  chairmanship  of 
Rev.  William  P.  Merrill,  with  Drs.  Lynch  and 
Gulick  as  the  secretaries  of  the  American  Council. 
This  campaign  is  now  in  progress.  Courses  of 
study  have  been  issued,  including  a  course  of  study 
in  World  Constructive  Statesmanship,  a  clear  cut 
program  has  been  laid  out  for  the  churches,  a 
largely  attended  conference  of  women  has  been 
held  and  other  similar  measures  initiated. 

The  Church  Peace  Union,  the  World  Alliance, 


154     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

and  the  Federal  Council  Commission  on  Interna- 
tional Justice  and  Goodwill,  and  also  the  Federal 
Council  Commission  on  Relations  with  the  Orient 
are  working  in  co-operative  relations,  without 
duplication  and  with  the  effectiveness  that  comes 
from  such  co-operation. 

The  World  Alliance  has  an  International  Com- 
mittee which  is,  of  course,  independent  of  all  the 
national  organizations.  The  American  Council  of 
the  World  Alliance  and  the  Commission  on  Inter- 
national Justice  and  Goodwill  of  the  Federal  Coun- 
cil act  to  all  practical  intents  and  purposes  as  one 
body,  having  a  joint  executive  committee.  The 
American  Council  of  the  World  Alliance,  moreover, 
includes  members  of  denominations  which  are  not 
constituent  parts  of  the  Federal  Council.  The 
literature  of  the  two  bodies,  however,  is  a  common 
literature.  The  American  Council  of  the  World 
Alliance  is  therefore  made  up  in  such  a  way  as 
to  facilitate  both  national  and  international  asso- 
ciation among  the  churches,  and  also  to  include  all 
of  those  Christian  bodies  in  sympathy  with  its 
work. 

Any  attempt  to  reproduce  the  closing  section  of 
the  report  of  the  Commission  on  Peace  and  Arbi- 
tration to  the  Federal  Council  at  St.  Louis  in 
December,  1916,  would  fail.  It  deals  with  the 
duty  of  the  churches  of  America  in  the  light  of 
national  and  of  world  conditions.  It  treats  in  a 
simple  and  statesmanlike  manner  the  world's  con- 
fusion, approves  several  modern  proposals  for  the 
new  order,  but  insists  upon  the  urgency  of  its  own 
task.     All  these  movements  will  fail  unless  they 


International  Relations  155 

are  permeated  through  and  through  with  Christian 
international  idealism.  To  infuse  this  into  all 
world  movements  is  the  distinctive  and  supreme 
task  and  duty  of  the  Christian  church.  The  time 
has  come  for  mobilizing  the  Christian  forces  of 
America  and  of  the  world  for  establishing  Chris- 
tian Internationalism. 

The  section  entitled  "The  World's  Confusion" 
ends  with  this  question: 

"Have  Herod  and  Pilate  conquered?  Do  we 
abandon  the  leadership  of  Jesus?  Is  the  God  and 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  driven  from  His 
throne?  Darkness  indeed  covers  the  world.  The 
rocks  are  riven.  The  earth  is  shaken.  The  veil 
of  the  temple  is  rent  from  top  to  bottom.  Do  these 
things  mean  that  Christ  is  dead  and  will  be  buried 
and  lost  forevermore?  Or  will  he  rise  again? 
Shall  we  see  the  Son  of  Man  sitting  in  power  and 
coming  on  the  clouds  of  heaven?" 

The  report  next  presents  "Our  Confession"  of 
past  failure,  and  then  passes  on  to  "Our  Grounds 
of  Hope." 
» 

"Jesus  of  Nazareth  stands  today  as  He  has  ever 
stood,  the  heaven-sent  Leader  and  Savior  of  mankind, 
the  one  who  alone  has  the  words  of  eternal  life. 
However  unfaithful  His  followers,  He  Himself  has 
been  true.  No  principle  of  His  has  proved  deficient  or 
false.  .  .  .  Something  has  indeed  collapsed,  but  it 
is  not  the  Christian  gospel.  The  doctrine  of  force  has 
broken  down.  The  doctrine  of  love  still  stands.  The 
ideals  of  Mars  have  faded,  the  ideals  of  Jesus  in  un- 
diminished splendor  shine  on.  We  are  face  to  face 
with  the  wreck  of  unchristian  diplomacy.  We  look 
upon  the  nemesis  of  antichristian  principles.    The  rain 


156     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

has  descended,  the  floods  have  come,  the  winds  have 
blown,  and  have  beaten  upon  the  house  which  short- 
sighted statesmen  have  builded,  and  it  has  fallen  and 
great  is  the  fall  of  it.  We  ponder  again  the  apostolic 
affirmations:  'Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than 
that  which  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ.'  'Neither 
is  there  any  other^  name  under  heaven,  that  is  given 
among  men,  wherein  we  must  be  saved.'  " 

We  have  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  in  human  his- 
tory, and  in  the  light  of  it  the  report  proceeds  with 
"Our  Principles  and  Our  Ideals." 

"Jesus  has  shown  us  the  way  of  life — for  nations  no 
less  than  for  individuals.  He  calls  us  to  forgive  those 
who  wrong  us,  to  love  those  who  hate  us,  and  to  help 
and  to  pray  for  those  who  would  harm  us.  He  has 
shown  us  how  to  conquer  hatred,  how  to  turn  enemies 
into  friends.  He  calls  us  to  a  life  of  universal  brother- 
hood." 

In  virile  language  the  report  sets  forth  those 
principles  which  Christianity  rejects  and  follows 
with  "The  Affirmations  of  Christianity." 

The  next  is  "Our  Program"  of  Christian  con- 
secration, sacrifice,  generosity,  legislation  for  the 
adequate  protection  of  aliens,  equality  in  the  treat- 
ment of  all  nations,  the  moral  and  spiritual  care 
of  the  army  and  navy,  the  re-establishment  of 
world  relations  and  world  organization,  and  finally, 
in  the  light  of  all  these,  the  mobilization  of  the 
forces  of  the  churches. 

In  the  concluding  chapter,  the  report  proposes: 

"(i)  The  abandonment  of  selfish  nationalism,  with 
its  distorted  patriotism,  its  secret  diplomacy,  its  double 
morality,  its  demoralizing  spy  system,  and  its  frank 
and  brutal  assertion  of  selfishness,  of  unlimited  sov- 


International  Relations  157 

ereignty,  and  of  the  right  to  override  and  destroy  weak 
neighbors;  and 

"(2)  The  adoption  of  a  Christian  nationalism,  a 
Christian  patriotism,  and  a  Christian  internationalism, 
which  assert  the  familyhood  of  nations,  the  limitation 
of  sovereignty,  and  the  right  of  all  nations  and  races, 
small  and  great,  to  share  in  the  world's  resources  and 
in  opportunity  for  self-directing  development  and  ex- 
panding life,'* 

and  ends  in  these  words: 

"We  exhort,  therefore,  all  men  everywhere  to  re- 
pent and  believe  the  gospel.  Let  us  believe  with  the 
heart  that  God  is  indeed  our  Father,  that  all  men  are 
our  brethren,  and  that  the  nations  live  under  'a  canopy 
of  love  as  broad  as  the  blue  sky  above.' 

"We  implore  men  everywhere  to  hope.  If  the  old 
hope  is  dead,  God  can  beget  us  unto  a  living  hope.  We 
can,  through  disappointment  and  disillusionment,  rise 
into  a  better  hope.  Why  should  Christians  be  despair- 
ing when  we  know  that  omnipotent  love  is  on  the 
throne,  and  that  all  things  work  together  for  good  to 
those  who  love  God  ? 

"We  beseech  all  men  throughout  the  world  to  love. 
Hearts  everywhere  are  feverish  and  restless.  Multi- 
tudes are  filled  with  rancor  and  resentment,  some  of 
them  with  bitterness  and  venomous  hatred.  It  is  time 
to  ponder  again  the  measure  of  the  divine  forgiveness, 
and  to  remember  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners  Christ 
died  for  us.  Each  of  the  warring  nations  has  stirred 
many  hearts  throughout  the  world  to  indignation  and 
contempt,  and  we  all  need  to  listen  to  the  apostolic  ex- 
hortation: 'Let  all  bitterness,  and  wrath,  and  anger, 
and  clamor,  and  railing,  be  put  away  from  you,  with 
all  malice :  and  be  ye  kind  one  to  another,  tenderhearted, 
forgiving  each  other,  even  as  God  also  in  Christ  for- 
gave you.' 

"We  call  all  men  everywhere  to  prayer.  'More 
things  are  wrought  by  prayer  than  this  wTorld  dreams 


158    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

of.'  Let  us  pray  for  ourselves  and  for  others,  for  our 
own  nation  and  for  other  nations,  especially  the  nations 
which  are  being  lacerated  by  the  scourge  of  war,  and  let 
the  burden  of  our  prayer  be  that  the  mind  may  be  in 
us  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus,  so  that  we,  like  Him, 
may  become  obedient  unto  death,  that  through  us  the 
kingdom  of  God  may  more  fully  come. 

''There  is  only  one  Christian  way  of  overcoming  evil, 
and  that  is  by  good.  There  is  only  one  Christian  way 
of  conquering  hate,  and  that  is  by  love." 

Upon  the  presentation  of  this  report,  the  Council 
of  1916  passed  resolutions  instructing  its  Commis- 
sions on  International  Justice  and  Goodwill  and  on 
Relations  with  the  Orient  to  continue  especially 
their  work  of  informing  the  churches  and  the 
people,  directed  the  Commission  on  International 
Justice  and  Goodwill  to  co-operate  fully  with  the 
American  Council  of  the  World  Alliance,  passed 
resolutions  calling  for  a  Federal  Commission  by 
the  government  on  Oriental  Relations,  recommend- 
ing the  establishment  of  a  Commission  by  the  Fed- 
eral Council  on  Relations  with  Mexico  and  Latin 
America,  protested  against  the  misuse  of  the  press 
for  arousing  ill  feeling  in  international  relations, 
provided  for  the  creation  by  the  Federal  Council  of 
a  Commission  on  Oriental  Relations,  requested  the 
Christian  people  of  America  to  pray  for  permanent 
peace  and  justice  at  Christmas  time,  and  changed 
the  name  of  the  previous  Commission  on  Peace  and 
Arbitration  to  the  Commission  on  International 
Justice  and  Goodwill,  of  which  President  W.  H.  P. 
Faunce  is  the  chairman. 

It  has  sometimes  been  flippantly  remarked  that 
"the  churches  have  done  nothing."     Anyone  who 


International  Relations  159 

will  make  a  careful  study  of  the  two  volumes  in 
the  Library  of  Christian  Co-operation  entitled 
'The  Church  and  International  Relations"  will 
surely  feel  that  this  charge  is  unfounded,  at  least 
so  far  as  the  Federal  Council  and  co-operating 
bodies  are  concerned. 

The  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Council  of  De- 
cember, 1916,  are  being  brought  into  practical 
operation,  and  the  World  Alliance  and  the  Federal 
Council  Commission  on  International  Justice  and 
Goodwill,  are  proceeding  with  their  work  looking 
toward  the  coming  day  of  reconciliation  and  re- 
construction. 

It  is  also  fitting  to  record  certain  efforts  which 
were  made  just  before  the  declaration  of  war  by 
the  United  States.  Wireless  messages  were  sent  by 
American  Christian  leaders  to  the  German  Chancel- 
lor, Foreign  Minister,  and  to  Christian  leaders  in 
Berlin,  urging  such  a  statement  on  the  part  of 
Germany  as  would  make  possible  a  conference  of 
the  nations.  Had  there  been  compliance  with  these 
earnest  persuasions,  it  might  not  only  have  pre- 
vented participation  in  the  war  by  our  own  na- 
tion, but  might  have  secured  justice  and  peace  with- 
out further  prolonged  bloodshed.  This  is  probably 
not  the  time  to  set  forth  these  procedures  in  de- 
tail, but  only  to  say  that  up  to  the  last  moment 
representatives  of  the  churches  did  their  utmost. 
Meanwhile  the  World  Alliance  organizations  in  all 
the  nations  are  holding  their  forces  together,  watch- 
ing for  the  day  when  the  movement  initiated  at 
Constance  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  war,  may 
proceed  to  its  fulfillment. 


160     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

Thus  do  the  boundaries  enlarge,  and  the  national 
federation  of  the  churches  leads  the  way  towards 
an  international  movement  of  Christians  which,  it 
is  devoutly  hoped  and  believed,  will  lead  to  Inter- 
national Christianity. 

Relations  with  the  Orient 

The  volume  entitled  "The  Church  and  Interna- 
tional Relations — Japan"  is  the  story  of  a  unique 
and  significant  movement  of  the  churches  in  rela- 
tion to  international  affairs.  That  foreign  missions 
will  play,  and  indeed  have  played  already  a  large 
part  in  international  relations,  no  one  will  be  dis- 
posed to  deny.  It  is,  therefore,  entirely  natural  that 
the  missionaries  should  express  concern  whenever 
international  relationships  between  this  nation  and 
a  nation  in  which  the  American  churches  have  mis- 
sions, are  in  any  danger. 

The  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ 
in  Japan,  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of 
Christ  in  America,  and  the  Federated  Missions  of 
Japan  have  been  for  several  years  cultivating  a 
relationship  of  mutual  esteem  and  practical  co-op- 
eration. It  was,  therefore,  natural  that  American 
missionaries  in  Japan  should  express  to  the  Ameri- 
can Federal  Council  their  concern  regarding  rela- 
tionships between  the  two  nations. 

In  191 3  several  memorials  were  received  by  the 
Federal  Council  from  bodies  of  American  mission- 
aries in  Japan,  expressing  deep  solicitude  concern- 
ing the  relations  of  the  moment  between  Japan  and 
America,    and   urging   that   the    Federal    Council 


Relations  with  the  Orient  161 

"appoint  a  Commission  to  study  this  whole  ques- 
tion in  its  relation  to  the  teachings  of  Christ  and 
that  it  seek  to  rally  the  Christian  forces  of  the 
United  States  for  the  solution  of  this  problem  and 
for  the  promoting  of  such  measures  as  are  in  ac- 
cord with  the  highest  standards  of  Christian  states- 
manship." Following  this  the  Rev.  Sidney  L. 
Gulick,  for  twenty-six  years  a  missionary  in  Japan, 
came  to  America  and  appeared  before  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  in  Baltimore  in   1913. 

After  full  consideration  the  Federal  Council  ap- 
pointed a  Commission  on  Relations  with  Japa'n, 
composed  of  ministers  and  laymen  whose  wide 
acquaintance  with  the  problems  involved  seemed  to 
insure  wise  as  well  as  effective  action,  with  Hamil- 
ton Holt  as  chairman.  Arrangements  were  made 
whereby  Dr.  Gulick  consulted  and  conferred 
widely  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  another. 
Professor  H.  A.  Millis,  well-known  as  an  investi- 
gator for  the  government,  was  sent  to  the  Pacific 
Coast  for  study  of  the  Japanese  situation,  his  re- 
port being  the  volume  entitled,  "The  Japanese 
Problem  in  the  United  States." 

Rev.  Frank  Mason  North,  Chairman  of  the  Ex- 
exutive  Committee,  and  Rev.  William  I.  Haven, 
Chairman  of  the  Administrative  Committee,  were 
authorized  to  act  for  the  Commission  during  their 
visit  to  the  Orient  in  1914,  and  Rev.  Doremus 
Scudder  of  Honolulu  came  to  the  United  States 
under  invitation  of  the  Commission  to  co-operate 
in  the  educational  work  of  Dr.  Gulick. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  191 5,  a  Christian 
Embassy   was   sent   to   Japan,   consisting   of   the 


162    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

President  of  the  Federal  Council,  Shailer  Mathews, 
and  Dr.  Gulick,  bearing  a  letter  from  the  Federal 
Council  in  America  to  the  Churches  of  Christ  in 
Japan  which,  being  the  first  of  its  kind,  may  well 
become  in  history  an  historic  document. 

The  report  of  the  Embassy  upon  its  return,  after 
something  like  225  conferences  and  addresses,  was 
of  deep  interest.  A  private  letter  from  Dr.  J.  L. 
Dearing,  secretary  of  the  Federated  Missions,  gives 
some  light  as  to  the  impression  left  by  the  visit 
of  the  embassy. 

"It  is  too  early  yet  to  properly  estimate  the  value 
of  this  embassy.  I  am  sure,  however,  that  I  am  not 
wrong  in  saying  that  it  far  exceeds  in  significance  what 
the  promoters  anticipated,  or  what  Dr.  Mathews  and 
Dr.  Gulick  dared  to  hope.  Certainly,  we  in  Japan  have 
been  amazed  at  the  result.  It  scarcely  seems  possible 
that  two  men  coming  in  an  unofficial  capacity  as  far  as 
the  government  is  concerned,  could  do  so  much  to  allay 
suspicion  and  develop  a  confidence  on  the  part  of  the 
people  generally  toward  America,  which  had  become 
decidedly  shaken." 

The  following  excerpt  from  a  note  from  Presi- 
dent Ibuka  to  Dr.  Gulick,  confirms  Dr.  Dearing's 
statement : 

"There  can  be  but  one  opinion  in  regard  to  the  ines- 
timable value  of  your  recent  mission.  A  flood  of  light 
has  been  shed  on  the  problem.  That  is  of  course  the 
first  thing  in  order  to  the  right  solution." 

This  is  perhaps  the  first  time  since  the  Apostolic 
Age  that  an  Embassy  of  this  kind  has  ever  been 
sent  from  one  nation  to  another,  and  as  the  mis- 
sionary churches  in  Japan  have  noted  in  their  re- 


Relations  with  the  Orient  163 

ports,  it  is  the  first  time  that  missioners  have  come 
to  foreign  mission  churches,  not  as  patrons  and 
teachers,  but  as  official  delegates  from  the  churches 
of  one  nation  to  the  churches  of  another. 

The  difficulties  under  consideration,  between  the 
two  nations,  are  of  course  largely  economic  and  in 
them  the  organizations  of  labor  are  involved. 
Through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Christian  Em- 
bassy to  Japan,  fraternal  delegates  were  sent  from 
workingmen's  organizations  in  Japan,  not  only  to 
the  annual  convention  of  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor,  but  also  to  the  California  Federation  of 
Labor,  and  were  cordially  received  two  successive 
years  by  the  American  Federation  of  Labor. 

Meanwhile  Rev.  D.  Ebina  came  to  America 
under  the  auspices  and  at  the  expense  of  the  Japan- 
ese Association  of  America,  entirely  Japanese  in 
its  organization,  to  do  evangelistic  work  among 
Japanese  on  the  Coast.  Dr.  Gulick  went  to  Hawaii, 
where  he  made  an  investigation  and  report  of  the 
situation  in  that  territory.  In  191 5  he  again  visited 
the  Pacific  Coast  and  reported  back  the  results  to 
the  Commission.  At  this  time,  after  reviewing  the 
entire  work  of  the  Commission,  the  Administrative 
Committee  issued  the  following  statement  to  the 
constituent  bodies  of  the  Federal  Council: 

"Two  years  have  now  elapsed  since  the  appointment 
by  the  Federal  Council  of  its  Commission  on  Relations 
with  Japan,  which  action,  it  will  be  remembered,  was 
taken  in  response  to  a  memorial  from  American  mis- 
sionaries in  Japan.  A  notable  work  has  been  done  by 
this  commission,  not  only  in  Japan  itself  through  the 
sending  of  our  Christian  embassy  to  that  land  a  year 
ago,  but  also  by  the  wide  campaigns  both  before  and 


164    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

after  the  embassy  of  our  special  representative,  Rev. 
Sidney  L.  Gulick.  Although  much  has  been  accom- 
plished, much  still  remains  to  be  done.  We  earnestly 
invite  the  serious  attention  of  our  entire  constituency  to 
the  moral  questions  and  the  questions  of  Christian  China 
and  Japan.  These  questions  cannot  be  solved  by  diplo- 
macy alone.  They  can  be  solved  only  by  national  ap- 
plication of  the  Golden  Rule  to  our  relations  with  these 
lands.  While  the  Federal  Council  is  concerned  solely 
with  the  Christian  principles  involved  and  can  assume 
no  responsibility  for  specific  legislative  proposals,  we 
urge,  nevertheless,  upon  the  leaders  and  the  membership 
of  our  constituent  bodies  as  Christian  citizens  the  care- 
ful study  of  the  proposals  for  comprehensive  immigra- 
tion legislation  that  have  been  worked  out  by  Dr. 
Gulick,  and  also  of  any  similar  proposals  looking  to  the 
solution  of  these  problems  in  a  way  thoroughly  honor- 
able to  the  peoples  concerned. 

"We  regard  it  as  of  the  highest  importance  in  main- 
taining right  relations  through  the  coming  decades  with 
Japan  and  China  that  the  United  States  shall  pursue 
an  Oriental  policy,  the  fundamental  principles  of  which 
shall  be  the  just  and  equitable  treatment  of  all  races. 
To  this  end  we  suggest  that  Christian  citizens  in  all 
parts  of  America  urge  their  representatives  in  Congress 
to  take  up  at  an  early  date  the  entire  immigration  ques- 
tion and  provide  for  comprehensive  legislation,  free 
from  race  discrimination,  covering  all  phases  of  the 
question  (such  as  the  limitation  of  all  immigration  and 
the  registration,  distribution,  employment,  education, 
and  naturalization  of  immigrants),  in  such  a  way  as  to 
conserve  American  institutions,  to  protect  American 
labor  from  dangerous  economic  competition,  and  to 
promote  an  intelligent  and  enduring  friendliness  among 
the  people  of  all  nations." 

In  the  fall  of  1916  a  conference  was  held,  called 
by  the  World  Alliance  and  the  Federal  Council 
Commission  on  Peace  and  Arbitration,  on  Ameri- 


Relations  with  the  Orient  165 

can  Oriental  Problems.  It  was  attended  by  repre- 
sentative missionaries  from  China,  from  Japan  and 
Korea,  secretaries  of  foreign  mission  boards  and 
a  number  of  eminent  citizens.  The  whole  situation 
was  reviewed  and  this  conference  ordered  a  me- 
morial to  the  President  and  Congress  urging  the 
appointment  of  a  Federal  Commission  on  Oriental 
Relations  to  consult  with  similar  commissions  from 
Japan  and  China. 

Meanwhile  the  membership  of  the  Commission 
on  Relations  with  Japan  was  enlarged  to  include 
members  from  all  sections  of  the  country,  including 
the  Pacific  Coast.  In  order  that  the  purpose  of  the 
Federal  Council  might  be  made  as  clear  as  possible 
the  following  statement  was  issued  under  date  of 
March  30,  1916,  by  the  president  and  general  secre- 
tary of  the  Federal  Council : 

"The  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in 
America  can  have  no  political  platform  and  cannot  in 
any  sense  engage  in  politics.  As  representing  the  re- 
ligious attitude  of  mind  of  the  Protestant  churches 
of  the  country,  it  is,  however,  endeavoring  to  make 
plain  the  fact  that  nothing  in  human  life  is  free  from 
Christian  principles.  International  relations,  as  truly 
as  individual  relations,  are  of  religious  importance.  _ 

"Because  of  its  conviction  that  one  means  of  building 
up  permanent  peace  is  the  establishment  of  Christian 
sympathy  and  Christian  understanding,  the  Federal 
Council  has  planned  closer  relations  with  the  Christians 
of  various  countries  for  the  purpose  of  co-operation  in 
the  application  of  principles  of  Christianity  to  the  rela- 
tions of  nations. 

"As  a  part  of  this  general  plan  representatives  of  the 
Council  are  in  constant  communication  with  representa- 
tives of  the  Christian  bodies  of  Europe.     The  general 


166     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

secretary  of  the  Council,  Dr.  Charles  S.  Macfarland, 
has  recently  returned  from  a  personal  visit  to  the 
leaders  of  Protestant  churches  in  Holland,  Germany, 
Switzerland,  France  and  Great  Britain. 

"In  pursuance  of  this  policy  for  the  promotion  of 
right  international  relations,  the  Federal  Council  has 
established  a  movement  to  deal  with  the  entire  question 
of  the  responsibility  and  work  of  the  churches  for  the 
relief  of  sufferers  from  the  war.  As  occasion  may  arise 
other  special  commissions  will  be  established  to  deal 
with  special  international  problems. 

"When  the  diplomatic  relations  between  America 
and  Japan  became  somewhat  disturbed  more  than  two 
years  ago,  the  Federal  Council,  in  response  to  an  appeal 
from  missionaries  in  Japan,  deemed  it  wise  to  establish 
the  Commission  on  Relations  with  Japan. 

"A  year  ago  the  Council  sent  an  embassy  to  carry  its 
Christian  goodwill  to  the  Christians  of  Japan,  and 
through  them  to  the  Japanese  people.  This  embassy 
was  given  every  opportunity  to  express  the  American 
attitude  of  mind  to  the  Japanese  people.  The  interest 
in  its  message  and  mission  was  uniformly  great  on  the 
part  of  the  Christian  churches,  the  people,  the  educated 
classes,  and  the  government.  It  was  universally  felt 
and  expressed  that  the  time  had  come  for  the  emphasis 
of  Christian  principles  in  the  specific  relations  which 
exist  between  the  United  States  and  Japan. 

"But  the  matter  obviously  cannot  rest  in  general 
principles.  Christianity  must  express  itself  in  concrete 
programs.  We  not  only  wish  to  give  justice,  but  we 
wish  to  know  how  justice  is  to  be  given.  To  this  end 
the  embassy  to  Japan,  in  a  long  series  of  conferences  and 
in  correspondence,  obtained  the  general  attitude  of  mind 
of  leaders  of  Japanese  thought  as  to  a  proposed  general 
policy  governing  immigration  into  the  United  States. 

"This  policy  is  set  forth  in  detail  in  a  pamphlet  by 
Dr.  Sidney  L.  Gulick,  entitled  "A  Comprehensive  Im- 
migration Policy  and  Program."  This  policy  is  an  at- 
tempt to  find  some  practical  way  of  bringing  Christian 
principles   to   bear,   not  only   upon   relations   between 


Relations  with  the  Orient  167 

America  and  Japan,  but  between  America  and  all  coun- 
tries from  which  immigrants  are  likely  to  come. 

"This  proposal  is  acceptable  to  Japanese  leaders. 
Adequate  proof  of  this  is  in  the  hands  of  the  commission. 

"The  question,  of  course,  arises  whether  such  a  policy 
would  be  acceptable  to  California  and  other  coast  states 
where  the  tension  due  to  Japanese  immigration  has  been 
somewhat  pronounced.  This  attitude  can  now  be  seen 
from  the  letters  and  actions  of  leading  citizens  and 
bodies  on  the  Pacific  Coast  presented  in  Dr.  Gulick's 
report  on  his  visit  to  the  Coast. 

"It  will,  of  course,  be  understood  that  the  various 
proposals  which  are  set  forth  by  Dr.  Gulick  and  others 
who  approve  them,  are  published  rather  than  officially 
adopted  by  the  Federal  Council,  which  is  concerned 
only  with  the  general  ethical  principles  involved.  As  a 
Council  it  expresses  no  opinion  regarding  the  advisabil- 
ity or  the  possibility  of  any  of  the  plans  suggested  by 
the  various  participants  in  the  discussion.  It  circulates 
them  simply  as  proposals  worthy  of  thoughtful  atten- 
tion by  Christian  citizens." 

As  has  been  already  noted,  the  Federal  Council, 
at  its  quadrennial  session  in  1916  enlarged  this 
Commission  to  a  Commission  on  Relations  with  the 
Orient,  of  which  Rev.  William  I.  Haven  is  chair- 
man, with  Fletcher  S.  Brockman,  for  many  years 
in  China,  and  Dr.  Gulick  as  Advisory  Secretaries. 

During  the  year  191 7  the  Commission  has  met, 
planned  out  its  work,  much  of  which  is  merely 
a  continuation  of  that  of  the  previous  Commission, 
and  has  initiated  a  new  movement  of  a  general 
nature  which  may  include  all  people  in  sympathy 
with  it,  for  the  proper  protection  of  and  for  con- 
sideration of  the  interests  of  all  aliens. 

The  work  of  the  Commission  on  Relations  with 
Japan  is  probably  far  more  widely  known  in  Japan 


168     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

than  among  even  the  pastors  of  America,  and  recent 
correspondence  from  China  as  well  as  Japan  ex- 
presses the  warmest  approval  of  the  creation  of 
the  new  Commission  on  Relations  with  the  Orient. 
The  great  awakening  of  the  Eastern  world  will 
offer  a  great  opportunity  to  the  churches  of 
America  to  help  in  shaping  this  new  life. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  FOR  CHAPTER  VI 

Christian  Unity  at  Work ; — The  Churches  of  Christ 
in  Council; — Christian  Co-operation  and  World  Re- 
demption;— The  Church  and  International  Relations, 
two  volumes; — The  Fight  for  Peace,  Gulick; — The 
Church  and  International  Relations — Japan;— The 
Japanese  Problem  in  the  United  States,  Millis; — 
America  and  the  Orient,  Gulick ; — Selected  Quotations 
on  Peace  and  War. 

Annual  Reports  of  the  Conference  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sion Boards  of  North  America,  and  all  other  Inter- 
denominational Missionary  Movements  and  Organiza- 
tions. 


VII 


THE    FEDERAL    COUNCIL    IN    TIME    OF 
NATIONAL  EMERGENCY 

FROM  the  very  beginning  the  Federal  Council, 
without  violating  Protestant  principles  of 
the  separation  of  church  and  state,  has 
sought  to  fulfill  its  national  duties.  It  has  not 
hesitated  to  exercise  "the  right  of  petition',  to  the 
government.  Indeed,  as  far  back  as  the  reports 
of  1906  and  1907,  before  the  Council  was  finally 
organized,  we  find  the  American  churches,  through 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Inter-Church  Con- 
ference on  Federation,  making  their  effective  pleas 
at  Washington  relative  to  conditions  in  the  Congo 
Free  State. 

There  are  many  natural  interests  of  the  churches 
which  are  also  the  interests  of  the  government,  as, 
for  example,  to  take  an  outstanding  case,  the  mat- 
ter of  home  missions  among  the  Indians.  There- 
fore very  early,  an  Advisory  Committee  of  pastors 
and  laymen  in  Washington  was  appointed,  fol- 
lowed, as  has  already  been  recorded,  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Washington  office. 

Shortly  after  the  declaration  of  war  by  the 
United  States,  overtures  came  from  local  federa- 
tions, ministerial  associations,  and  other  elements  of 

169 


170     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

the  constituency  of  the  Federal  Council,  resulting 
in  the  calling  of  a  special  meeting  of  the  full 
Council  at  Washington  May  8  and  9,  1917: 

"For  prayer  and  conference; 

To  prepare  a  suitable  message  for  the  hour; 

To  plan  and  provide  for  works  of  mercy; 

To  plan  and  provide  for  the  moral  and  religious 
welfare  of  the  army  and  navy  ; 

To  formulate  Christian  duties  relative  to  conserv- 
ing the  economic,  social,  moral  and  spiritual  forces  of 
the  nation." 

In  addition  to  the  Federal  Council,  representa- 
tives for  joint  conference  were  invited  from  co- 
operating and  related  bodies. 

The  temper  and  spirit  of  the  meeting  has  already 
been  recorded  as  well  as  its  actions.  A  digest  of 
the  message  of  the  Council,  however,  should  find 
place  in  this  volume.    It  was  as  follows: 


I.  OUR  SPIRIT  AND  PURPOSE 

After  long  patience,  and  with  a  solemn  sense  of 
responsibility,  the  government  of  the  United  States  has 
been  forced  to  recognize  that  a  state  of  war  exists  be- 
tween this  country  and  Germany,  and  the  President  has 
called  upon  all  the  people  for  their  loyal  support  and 
their  wholehearted  allegiance.  As  American  citizens, 
members  of  Christian  Churches  gathered  in  Federal 
Council,  we  are  here  to  pledge  both  support  and  alleg- 
iance in  unstinted  measure. 

We  are  Christians  as  well  as  citizens.  Upon  us  there- 
fore rests  a  double  responsibility.  We  owe  it  to  our 
country  to  maintain  intact  and  to  transmit  unimpaired 
to  our  descendants  our  heritage  of  freedom  and  democ- 
racy.   Above  and  beyond  this,  we  must  be  loyal  to  our 


In  Time  of  National  Emergency     171 

divine  Lord,  who  gave  His  life  that  the  world  might  be 
redeemed,  and  whose  loving  purpose  embraces  every 
man  and  every  nation. 

As  citizens  of  a  peace-loving  nation,  we  abhor  war. 
We  have  long  striven  to  secure  the  judicial  settlement 
of  all  international  disputes.  But  since,  in  spite  of  every 
effort,  war  has  come,  we  are  grateful  that  the  ends  to 
which  we  are  committed  are  such  as  we  can  approve. 
To  vindicate  the  principles  of  righteousness  and  the 
inviolability  of  faith  as  between  nation  and  nation;  to 
safeguard  the  right  of  all  the  peoples,  great  and  small 
alike,  to  live  their  life  in  freedom  and  peace;  to  resist 
and  overcome  the  forces  that  would  prevent  the  union 
of  the  nations  in  a  commonwealth  of  free  peoples  con- 
scious of  unity  in  the  pursuit  of  ideal  ends — these  are 
aims  for  which  every  one  of  us  may  lay  down  his  all, 
even  life  itself. 

We  enter  the  war  without  haste  or  passion,  not  for 
private  or  national  gain,  with  no  hatred  or  bitterness 
against  those  with  whom  we  contend. 

No  man  can  foresee  the  issue  of  the  struggle.  It 
will  call  for  all  the  strength  and  heroism  of  which  the 
nation  is  capable.  What  now  is  the  mission  of  the 
church  in  this  hour  of  crisis  and  danger?  It  is  to  bring 
all  that  is  done  or  planned  in  the  nation's  name  to  the 
test  of  the  mind  of  Christ. 

That  mind  upon  one  point  we  do  not  all  interpret 
alike.  With  sincere  conviction  some  of  us  believe  that 
it  is  forbidden  the  disciple  of  Christ  to  engage  in  war 
under  any  circumstances.  Most  of  us  believe  that  the 
love  of  all  men  which  Christ  enjoins,  demands  that  we 
defend  with  all  the  power  given  us  the  sacred  rights 
of  humanity.  But  we  are  all  at  one  in  loyalty  to  our 
country,  and  in  steadfast  and  wholehearted  devotion  to 
her  service. 

As  members  of  the  church  of  Christ,  the  hour  lays 
upon  us  special  duties: 

To  purge  our  own  hearts  clean  of  arrogance  and 
selfishness ; 

To  steady  and  inspire  the  nation; 


172    The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

To  keep  ever  before  the  eyes  of  ourselves  and  of  our 
allies  the  ends  for  which  we  fight ; 

To  hold  our  own  nation  true  to  its  professed  aims  of 
justice,  liberty  and  brotherhood; 

To  testify  to  our  fellow-Christians  in  every  land,  most 
of  all  to  those  from  whom  for  the  time  we  are  estranged, 
our  consciousness  of  unbroken  unity  in  Christ ; 

To  unite  in  the  fellowship  of  service  multitudes  who 
love  their  enemies  and  are  ready  to  join  with  them  in 
rebuilding  the  waste  places  as  soon  as  peace  shall  come : 

To  be  diligent  in  works  of  relief  and  mercy,  not  for- 
getting those  ministries  to  the  spirit  to  which,  as  Chris- 
tians, we  are  specially  committed ; 

To  keep  alive  the  spirit  of  prayer,  that  in  these  times 
of  strain  and  sorrow  men  may  be  sustained  by  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  presence  and  power  of  God ; 

To  hearten  those  who  go  to  the  front,  and  to  comfort 
their  loved  ones  at  home; 

To  care  for  the  welfare  of  our  young  men  in  the 
army  and  navy,  that  they  may  be  fortified  in  character 
and  made  strong  to  resist  temptation  ; 

To  be  vigilant  against  every  attempt  to  arouse  the 
spirit  of  vengeance  and  unjust  suspicion  toward  those  of 
foreign  birth  or  sympathies; 

To  protect  the  rights  of  conscience  against  every  at- 
tempt to  invade  them; 

To  maintain  our  Christian  institutions  and  activities 
unimpaired,  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day  and  the 
study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  that  the  soul  of  our  nation 
may  be  nourished  and  renewed  through  the  worship  and 
service  of  Almighty  God ; 

To  guard  the  gains  of  education,  and  of  social 
progress  and  economic  freedom,  won  at  so  great  a  cost, 
and  to  make  full  use  of  the  occasion  to  set  them  still 
further  forward,  even  by  and  through  the  war ; 

To  keep  the  open  mind  and  the  forward  look,  that 
the  lessons  learned  in  war  may  not  be  forgotten  when 
comes  that  just  and  sacred  peace  for  which  we  pray; 

Above  all,  to  call  men  everywhere  to  new  obedience 
to  the  will  of  our  Father  God,  who  in  Christ  has  given 


In  Time  of  National  Emergency     173 

Himself  in  supreme  self-sacrifice  for  the  redemption  of 
the  world,  and  who  invites  us  to  share  with  Him  His 
ministry  of  reconciliation. 

To  such  service  we  would  summon  our  fellow-Chris- 
tians of  every  name.  In  this  spirit  we  would  dedicate 
ourselves  and  all  that  we  have  to  the  nation's  cause. 
With  this  hope  we  would  join  hands  with  all  men  of 
goodwill  of  every  land  and  race,  to  rebuild  on  this  war- 
ridden  and  desolated  earth  the  commonwealth  of  man- 
kind, and  to  make  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  the 
Kingdom  of  the  Christ. 

II.  OUR  PRACTICAL  DUTIES 

Army  and  Navy.  For  the  moral  and  spiritual  wel- 
fare of  the  army  and  navy  the  churches  are  in  chief 
measure  responsible.  They  should  therefore  cultivate  a 
close  relationship  to  the  army  and  navy  chaplains  who 
are  the  accredited  ministers  of  the  churches  and  should 
dignify  and  strengthen  their  service.  They  should  cor- 
dially sustain  and  reinforce  the  work  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  which  is  an  especially 
equipped  and  well-tried  arm  of  the  church  for  minister- 
ing to  men  in  the  camp.  They  should  also  sympathetic- 
ally support  the  plans  of  the  American  Bible  Society  to 
make  the  Scriptures  available  for  every  soldier  and  sailor 
of  the  army  and  navy. 

The  liquor  traffic.  In  this  time  of  crisis  the  Federal 
Council  urges  the  churches  to  use  their  utmost  en- 
deavors to  secure  national  prohibition  as  a  war  measure, 
demanded  alike  by  economic,  moral  and  religious  con- 
siderations. The  liquor  traffic  consumed  last  year  food- 
stuffs sufficient  to  feed  7,000,000  men  for  a  year,  re- 
quired the  toil  of  75,000  farmers  for  six  months  to  fur- 
nish these  foodstuffs,  engaged  62,920  wage-earners 
needed  in  legitimate  industry  and  exacted  a  heavy  toll  of 
life.  The  nation  cannot  afford  this  economic  and  moral 
waste. 

The  social  evil.  War  increases  lust  and  its  deadly 
consequences.    The  efforts  of  the  government,  of  the 


174     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

Federal  Council  and  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  to  prevent  its  development  in  mobilization 
camps  will  not  fully  succeed  unless  the  nearby  churches 
and  allied  organizations  see  that  vice  and  liquor  are  re- 
pressed in  their  communities  and  unless  they  assist  in 
providing  wholesome  social  and  recreational  activities 
for  the  men.  All  the  churches  will  need  to  watch 
lest  the  excitement  and  strain  of  the  hour  lower  the 
sex  standards  of  the  community. 

Relief  work.  The  increased  suffering  of  war  time 
demands  increased  gifts  and  service.  The  churches 
should  organize  themselves  to  strengthen  the  American 
Red  Cross  by  membership  and  the  preparation  of  sup- 
plies, to  care  in  friendship  for  all  the  needs  of  the 
families  of  men  in  national  service,  to  increase  their 
gifts  to  foreign  war  relief  and  to  those  European  re- 
ligious bodies  which  the  Federal  Council  is  already  as- 
sisting. 

Child  welfare.  To  meet  the  depletion  of  war  the 
vitality  of  the  rising  generation  needs  to  be  conserved 
and  developed.  It  is  more  important  than  ever  for  the 
churches  to  aid  in  removing  the  community  conditions 
that  make  for  defective  lives,  and  in  securing  sound 
measures  of  health  and  sanitation,  of  housing  and 
nourishment,  of  recreation  and  education.  The  mob- 
ilization of  youth  for  increased  food  production  affords 
a  starting  point  for  permanent  community  provision  for 
the  recreational  and  vocational  needs  of  young  people. 

Increased  production  of  food.  The  world  is  short  of 
food.  The  safety  of  the  nation  and  the  outcome  of  the 
war  depend  largely  upon  our  ability  to  increase  the 
crops.  This  is  an  urgent  national  duty.  The  suburban 
and  rural  churches  may  well  call  the  people  together  to 
consider  community  plans  to  this  end. 

Prevention  of  waste.  In  face  of  the  world  need,  ex- 
travagance and  luxury  are  criminal,  but  productive  bus- 
iness should  be  maintained  at  its  fullest  possible  capacity. 
The  simple  life,  which  is  a  permanent  obligation  for 
the  followers  of  Jesus,  becomes  in  this  emergency  an 
imperative  necessity.    The  women  of  the  churches  may 


In  Time  of  National  Emergency     175 

well  get  together  to  consider  and  recommend  sound 
economies  in  food  and  clothing. 

Industrial  standards.  The  labor  power  of  the  nation 
must  be  conserved  or  the  needed  increase  in  production 
cannot  be  secured,  as  England  has  discovered.  The  in- 
dustrial standards  set  up  by  the  Federal  Council  and  its 
constituent  bodies  must  be  maintained.  All  cases  of 
seven-day  work,  of  lengthened  working  day,  of  the  em- 
ployment of  children  and  young  people  under  sixteen, 
or  of  women  in  the  new  hazardous  industries,  should 
at  once  be  reported  to  local  authorities  or  to  the  National 
Council  of  Defense. 

Justice  in  distribution.  The  churches  should  stimu- 
late the  community  conscience  to  demand  that  all  spec- 
ulation in  the  necessities  of  life  be  eliminated,  that  all 
attempts  to  secure  unjust  profits  be  checked  and  that 
the  hoarding  of  food-stuffs  be  prevented.  Government 
action  to  this  end  should  be  heartily  supported. 

The  cost  of  war.  The  burden  of  war  cost  must  be 
evenly  distributed.  The  principle  of  universal  service 
has  been  applied  to  life  in  the  raising  of  troops.  It 
should  therefore  be  applied  in  the  same  manner  to 
wealth  and  ability. 

Safeguarding  democracy.  If  we  are  to  advance  de- 
mocracy throughout  the  earth  we  must  first  exemplify  it 
in  the  nation.  It  must  not  be  denied,  either  in  industry 
or  in  government.  Even  in  the  strain  of  war,  the  abuse 
of  free  speech  is  not  so  dangerous  as  its  suppression,  and 
nothing  should  be  permitted  to  destroy  the  dearly 
bought  right  of  freedom  of  conscience.  One  of  the 
patriotic  duties  of  the  Christian  pulpit  is  continuously 
to  develop  in  the  people  the  determination  that  this 
war  shall  end  in  nothing  less  than  such  a  constructive 
peace  as  shall  be  the  beginning  of  a  world  democracy. 

Immediately  following  this  meeting,  a  joint  com- 
mittee was  arranged  with  the  War  Work  Council 
of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  order 
that  there  might  be  the  fullest  co-operation. 


176     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

A  tentative  committee  was  appointed  on  Re- 
ligious Work  in  the  Reserve  Training  Camps  and 
for  work  around  the  camps.  Provision  was  made 
to  constitute  a  large  corps  of  voluntary  chaplains. 
A  message  was  sent  out  on  food  conservation  at 
the  behest  of  Mr.  Hoover,  the  Red  Cross  cam- 
paign was  promoted  and  the  Washington  office  set 
up  a  staff  to  secure  the  regular  chaplains  for  the 
army  and  navy,  according  to  arrangements  with 
the  several  denominational  committees  on  chaplains. 

The  Commission  on  the  Church  and  Social 
Service  began  its  work  for  the  conservation  of 
social  and  industrial  standards  during  the  war;  the 
Commission  on  Inter-Church  Federations  pro- 
ceeded towards  organizing  the  churches  around 
the  camps  so  that  they  might  fulfill  their  de- 
nominational responsibility  through  effective  co-op- 
eration, and,  especially,  the  various  denominational 
national  commissions  were  invited  to  utilize  the 
Federal  Council  to  bring  about  joint  action  where 
such  would  be  most  effective  in  pursuing  their 
task. 

The  volume  containing  the  utterances  and  the 
full  message  of  the  special  Washington  meeting, 
entitled  "The  Churches  of  Christ  in  Time  of 
War,"  was  published  in  the  hope  that  it  might 
help  to  guide  the  churches.  The  Commission  on 
Temperance  began  its  "Strengthen  America  Cam- 
paign" and  brought  together  all  the  temperance 
organizations  for  work  in  connection  with  the 
army  and  navy.  Camps  were  visited,  the  churches 
in  localities  where  new  camps  were  to  be  estab- 
lished were  consulted,  and  it  soon  appeared  that 


In  Time  of  National  Emergency     177 

the  multitude  of  new  duties  to  be  undertaken  by 
the  Federal  Council  would  call  for  additional  equip- 
ment and  for  increased  administrative  machinery. 

The  Administrative  Committee  therefore  author- 
ized the  President  of  the  Council  to  appoint  a  War 
Work  Commission  of  one  hundred,  after  consulta- 
tion with  the  constituent  bodies  and  their  several 
agencies,  the  scope  of  the  Commission  being  con- 
sidered under  the  following  items: 

The  importance  of  general  leadership  on  the  part  of 
the  church ; 

The  work  of  war  relief  in  connection  with  the  Red 
Cross  and  other  bodies; 

The  selection  and  training  of  chaplains; 

The  distribution  of  religious  literature; 

The  services  of  outside  preachers  in  connection  with 
the  camps; 

The  moral  and  religious  conditions  in  communities 
surrounding  the  camps; 

The  provision  of  voluntary  chaplains  for  the  reserve 
officers'  training  camps,  and  other  religious  work  in 
connection  with  such  camps; 

Temperance  movements; 

The  relations  between  the  home  churches  and  the  men 
at  the  front ; 

The  care  of  the  families  of  the  enlisted  men  upon  the 
part  of  the  churches ; 

The  maintenance  of  the  work  of  charitable  organi- 
zations ; 

The  preservation  of  industrial  standards; 

The  preparation  of  war  manuals  and  similar  litera- 
ture for  pastors  and  church  workers; 

The  consideration  of  interned  aliens; 

Preparation  for  the  work  of  reconstruction  after  the 
war;  . 

The  appointment  of  missioners  to  go  abroad  with 
the  troops; 

And  other  similar  work. 


178     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

This  Commission  has  been  appointed,  and  is  made 
up  of  about  one  hundred  of  the  strongest  Christian 
laymen  and  pastors  in  the  nation,  with  Robert  E. 
Speer  as  its  Chairman,  and  Bishop  William  Law- 
rence as  Vice  Chairman.  It  brings  together  the 
official  representatives  of  the  denominational  War 
Committees,  thus  uniting  the  denominations  for 
such  work  as  could  not  be  done  effectively  by  in- 
dependent action.  It  is  also  constituted  in  such 
manner  as  to  insure  co-operation  with  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association,  the  American  Bible  Society 
and  other  bodies.  It  may  thus  serve  as  a  Federal 
clearing  house,  inspirational  and  stimulating  in- 
fluence, and  so  far  as  may  be  desired,  as  a  directing 
agency  for  all  the  Christian  work  of  the  nation  in 
relation  to  the  war.  By  its  relationship  with  such 
agencies  as  the  National  Commission  on  Training 
Camps,  the  other  government  departments  and 
other  social  agencies,  it  will  help  to  unify  all  the 
moral  agencies  in  their  war  work. 

Moreover,  by  the  exercise  of  a  certain  freedom 
of  relationship  called  for  under  exceptional  condi- 
tions, it  can,  as  the  case  may  arise,  unite  its  forces 
without  ecclesiastical  limitations,  with  those  of 
other  religious  bodies  seeking  the  same  ends  in  the 
service  of  the  nation  and  the  world.  Arrangements 
are  being  made,  at  the  time  of  writing,  to  bring 
the  Commission  together,  and  it  may  therefore  be 
appropriate  to  close  this  record  of  progress  at  this 
point,  that  it  may  begin  anew  with  the  work  of 
this  Commission,  perhaps  the  most  important  ever 


In  Time  of  National  Emergency     179 

appointed  to  represent  the  Churches  of  Christ  in 
America. 

At  the  time  that  this  volume  goes  to  press,  the 
Federal  Council  Offices  in  Washington  bear  marked 
resemblance  in  their  rather  feverish  activities,  to 
all  other  offices  at  the  National  Capital.  Plans  for 
a  conference  of  chaplains  to  better  prepare  them 
for  their  service,  measures  to  increase  their  number 
in  view  of  the  increased  size  of  the  regiments,  are 
under  consideration  with  the  departments,  and 
the  special  committee  of  which  Bishop  Lawrence  is 
chairman  has  been  to  Washington  for  full  consulta- 
tion with  the  President,  the  Secretary  of  War  and 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

The  offices  in  New  York  are  largely  engaged  in 
similar  work,  Secretary  H.  H.  Gill  is  already  in 
charge  of  the  Temperance  Movement  in  the  army 
and  navy,  the  Strengthen  America  Campaign  prom- 
ises success,  the  churches  and  educational  institu- 
tions are  being  rallied  to  support  the  congressional 
amendment  needed  to  protect  them  from  the 
measures  of  the  Income  Tax  and  the  Federal 
Council  is  gradually  adjusting  itself  to  its  new 
opportunities  and  duties  in  time  of  war,  and  is 
bringing  them  into  line  with  its  normal  work. 

International  relations  are  deepening,  the  Council 
awaits  the  coming  of  the  delegates  from  the 
Huguenot  churches,  and  in  many  directions  op- 
portunities are  presenting  themselves  for  such 
action  as  can  be  taken  only  by  some  representative 
body  of  the  churches. 

Meanwhile  the  denominations  are  appointing 
their  War  Commissions  and  Committees  for  Na- 


180     The  Progress  of  Church  Federation 

tional  Service  and  there  is  quickened  activity  among 
the  local  churches.  To  co-ordinate  these  move- 
ments and  save  them  from  duplication  and  con- 
fusion and  help  them  to  supplement  each  other, 
is  the  obvious  task  of  the  representatives  of  these 
bodies  and  churches,  with  the  Federal  Council  as 
a  common  ground. 

Conclusion 

The  writer,  in  this  volume,  has  only  attempted 
to  tell  a  plain  simple  story.  He  has  not  sought 
to  interpret  this  record.  The  prophets  of  Christian 
unity  may  allege  that  we  have  not  gone  very  far 
along  their  road.  A  recent  missionary  leader  has 
indeed  said  that  the  movement  for  federation  is 
as  yet  little  more  than  an  heroic  attempt  on  the 
part  of  a  relatively  limited  group  of  leaders,  and 
that  the  churches  themselves  are  not  thoroughly 
behind  it,  and  that  these  leaders  do  not  represent, 
in  this  sense,  the  churches.  Consider  the  matter, 
however,  for  a  moment,  in  historical  perspective. 
We  are  now  observing  the  four-hundredth  anni- 
versary of  the  Protestant  Reformation.  For  about 
375  years  of  that  period  the  process  was  largely 
that  of  disintegration,  and  the  cultivation  and 
multiplication  of  denominations  working  largely  in 
isolation,  or,  worse  still,  in  competition  and  almost 
never  in  co-operation.  The  Federal  Council  has 
been  in  existence  less  than  a  decade.  If  we  think 
of  that  decade,  or,  more  particularly,  if  we  think 
of  the  past  four  years,  which  constitute  mainly 
the  record  of  this  volume,  over  against  those  375 


In  Time  of  National  Emergency     181 

years  of  Protestant  disintegration,  it  may  be  that 
this  volume  is  not  inappropriate  in  its  use  of  the 
word  "progress"  to  represent  the  story  of  the  past 
quadrennium. 

Moreover,  this  volume  deals  solely  with  concrete 
matters  and  does  not  attempt  to  portray  the  larger 
progress  of  that  larger  field  of  denominational  co- 
operation of  which  the  Federal  Council  is  but  the 
outstanding  expression.  It  does  not  express  the 
spirit  and  state  of  mind  created  by  the  Council  and 
cannot  do  more  than  suggest  the  unseen  forces 
which  are  at  work  and  which,  it  may  be,  are  work- 
ing faster  than  any  of  us  realize. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  FOR  CHAPTER  VII 

The  Churches  of  Christ  in  Time  of  War. 

Report  of  Special  Meeting  at  Washington,  D.  C, 

1917.  _      _ 

Current  Literature  and  Periodicals  of  the  Federal 

Council. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  VOLUMES  WITH  FEDERAL  COUNCIL  IMPRINT 

The  Origin  and  History  of  the  Federal  Council.  By  Elias  B. 
Sanford,  Honorary  Secretary.     Price  $1.50,  postpaid  $1.60. 

The  Churches  of  the  Federal  Council:  Their  History,  Organi- 
zation and  Distinctive  Characteristics.  Edited  by  Charles 
S.  Macfarland,  General  Secretary.  Price  $1.00,  postpaid 
$1.10. 

The  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches.  The  Record  of  the 
First  Council  at  Philadelphia,  1908.  Edited  by  Elias  B. 
Sanford.     Price  $1.25,  postpaid  $1.35. 

Church  Federation.  The  Story  of  Interchurch  Federation  at 
Carnegie  Hall,  New  York,  in  1905;  an  Initial  and  Prepara- 
tory Session  of  the  Federal  Council.  Edited  by  Elias  B. 
Sanford.     Price  $1.50,  postpaid  $1.75. 

Christian  Unity  at  Work.  A  Record  of  the  Federative  Move- 
ment from  1 908-1 9 1 2.  Edited  by  Charles  S.  Macfarland. 
Price  $1.00,  postpaid  $1.20. 

Library  of  Christian  Co-operation.  The  Record  from  19 12- 
19 16.  Edited  by  Charles  S.  Macfarland.  Price  $5.00  per 
set,  postpaid  $5.25. 

Volume  I.  The  Churches  of  Christ  in  Council.  Reports 
of  the  actions  of  the  Third  Quadrennial  Meeting  of 
the  Federal  Council  at  St.  Louis,  December,  19 16, 
and  a  general  review  of  the  work  of  Christian  co- 
operation for  four  years.  Prepared  by  Charles  S. 
Macfarland.     Price  $1.00,  postpaid  $1.10. 

Volume  II.  The  Church  and  International  Relations. 
A  complete  survey  of  all  the  movements,  national  and 
international,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  of  the  united 
efforts  of  the  churches  and  Christian  leaders  for 
international  justice  and  goodwill.  Prepared  by 
183 


184  Bibliography 

Sidney  L.  Gulick  and  Charles  S.  Macfarland. 
Price  $1.00,  postpaid  $1.10. 
Volume  III.  The  Church  and  International  Relations. 
Companion  volume  to  Volume  II.  Prepared  by- 
Sidney  L.  Gulick  and  Charles  S.  Macfarland.  Price 
$1.00,  postpaid  $i.io. 
Volume  IV.  The  Church  and  International  Relations 
(Japan).  The  most  up-to-date,  comprehensive 
survey  of  the  relations  with  Japan  that  has  appeared 
setting  forth  in  the  appendix  the  important  and 
significant  information  on  this  question  presented 
by  Sidney  L.  Gulick.  Prepared  by  Charles  S. 
Macfarland.  Price  $i.oo,  postpaid  $i.io. 
Volume  V.  Christian  Co-operation  and  World  Redemp- 
tion. Prepared  by  Charles  S.  Macfarland.  Price 
$i.oo,  postpaid  $i.io. 

i.  The  Nature  and  Tasks  of  Christian  Co-opera- 
tion. The  reports  of  the  Commissions  on 
Evangelism,  Church  and  Social  Service,  Family 
Life,  Temperance,  and  Sunday  Observance. 

2.  Co-operation  in  the  Home  Field.  The  reports 
of  the  Home  Missions  Council,  the  Committee 
on  Negro  Churches,  the  Commissions  on  the 
Church  and  Country  Life,  State  and  Local 
Federations,  and  Federated  Movements. 

3.  Co-operation  in  Foreign  Missions.  The  report 
of  the  Commission  on  Foreign  Missions. 

Volume  VI.  Co-operation  in  Christian  Education.  Con- 
tains full  information  concerning  interdenomina- 
tional organizations  and  movements  in  the  interest 
of  Christian  education  and  a  full  discussion  of  the 
relations  between  religious  instruction  and  the  public 
school  system.  Prepared  by  Henry  H.  Meyer. 
Price  $1.00,  postpaid  $1.10. 

The  Churches  of  Christ  in  Time  of  War.  A  handbook  and 
guide  to  the  practical  work  of  the  churches  and  Christian 
people  in  conserving  the  economic,  social,  moral  and  religious 
forces  of  the  nation.  Edited  by  Charles  S.  Macfarland. 
Price  50  cents,  postpaid  60  cents. 


Bibliography  185 

A  Manual  of  Inter-Church  Work.  Price  50  cents,  postpaid 
55  cents. 

The  Country  Church.  The  Decline  of  Its  Influence  and  the 
Remedy.  The  result  of  an  investigation.  By  Charles  O. 
Gill  and  Gifford  Pinchot,  of  the  Commission  on  the  Church 
and  Country  Life.     Price  $1.25,  postpaid  $1.35. 

The  Fight  for  Peace.  An  Aggressive  Campaign  for  American 
Churches.  By  Sidney  L.  Gulick,  Secretary  of  the  Com- 
mission on  International  Justice  and  Goodwill.  Price  20 
cents  (paper),  45  cents  (cloth);  postpaid  25  cents  (paper), 
50  cents  (cloth). 

Selected  Quotations  on  Peace  and  War.  A  Source  Book  for 
the  use  of  Sunday-School  teachers  in  connection  with  the 
Lessons  on  International  Peace,  prepared  by  the  Federal 
Council  Commission  on  Christian  Education.  Price  $1.00, 
postpaid,  $1.10. 

The  Japanese  Problem  in  the  United  States.  Prepared  by 
Professor  H.  A.  Millis  for  the  Commission  on  Relations  with 
Japan.     Illustrated.     Price  $1.50,  postpaid  $1.60. 

II.    YEAR  BOOKS 

A  Year-Book  of  the  Church  and  Social  Service.  Compiled 
by  Harry  F.  Ward,  Associate  Secretary  of  the  Commission 
on  the  Church  and  Social  Service.  Price  35  cents  (paper), 
55  cents  (cloth). 

Federal  Council  Year-Book.  A  Directory  of  the  Federal 
Council,  its  Constituent  Bodies  and  other  Denominations, 
Interdenominational  Societies,  etc.,  with  statistics.  Post- 
paid 50  cents. 

III.  VOLUMES  BY  THE  SECRETARIES  OF  THE 
FEDERAL  COUNCIL  AND  ITS  COMMISSIONS 
AND  CO-OPERATING  BODIES 

A  History  of  the  Reformation.     By  Elias  B.  Sanford.     Price 

$1.15,  postpaid  $1.25. 
Spiritual  Culture  and  Social  Service.     By  Charles  S.  Macfar* 

land.     Price  $1.00,  postpaid  $1.10. 
Christian  Service  and  the  Modern  World.     By  Charles  S. 

Macfarland.     Price  75  cents,  postpaid  85  cents. 


186  Bibliography 

The  Christian  Ministry  and  the  Social  Order.     An  unusual 

survey  of  the  Minister's  Manifold  Relation  to  the  Social 

Movements  of  the  Day.     Edited  by  Charles  S.  Macfarland. 

Price  $1.25,  postpaid  $1.40. 
The  Church  and  Labor.     By  Charles  Stelzle,  Field  Secretary 

for  Special  Service.     Price  50  cents,  postpaid  60  cents. 
Principles   of   Successful   Church   Advertising.     By   Charles 

Stelzle.     Price  $1.00,  postpaid  $1.10. 
American    Social    and    Religious    Conditions.     By    Charles 

Stelzle.     Price  $1.25,  postpaid  $1.35. 
The  Gospel  of  Labor.     By  Charles  Stelzle.     Price  10  cents, 

postpaid  15  cents. 
The   Socialized   Church.     By  Worth  M.   Tippy,   Executive 

Secretary  of  the  Commission  on  the  Church  and  Social 

Service.     Price  50  cents,  postpaid  60  cents. 
The  Church  a  Community  Force.     By  Worth  M.   Tippy. 

Price  50  cents,  postpaid  60  cents. 
Evolution  of  the  Japanese;   Social  and  Psychic.     By  Sidney 

L.  Gulick.     Price  $2.00,  postpaid  $2.10. 
Working  Women  of  Japan.     By  Sidney  L.  Gulick.     Price  50 

cents,  postpaid  60  cents. 
The  American  Japanese   Problem.     By  Sidney  L.    Gulick. 

Price  $1.75,  postpaid  $1.85. 
America  and  the  Orient.      By  Sidney  L.  Gulick.     Price  25 

cents,  postpaid  35  cents. 
Tke    New    Citizenship.     By    Samuel   Z.    Batten.    Associate 

Secretary  of  the  Commission  on  the  Church  and  Social 

Service.     Price  60  cents,  postpaid  70  cents. 
The  Christian  State.     By  Samuel  Z.  Batten.     Price  $1.50, 

postpaid  $1.60. 
The  Social  Task  of  Christianity.     By  Samuel  Z.   Batten. 

Price  60  cents,  postpaid  70  cents. 
The  Social  Creed  of  the  Churches.     By  Harry  F.  Ward.     Price 

50  cents,  postpaid  60  cents. 
Social  Evangelism.     By  Harry  F.   Ward.     Price  50  cents, 

postpaid  60  cents. 
Poverty  and  Wealth.     A  course  of  study  for  adult  classes  in 

the  Sunday  school.     By  Harry  F.  Ward.     Price  50  cents, 

postpaid  60  cents. 
The  Bible  and  Social  Living.     A  course  of  study  for  Senior 


Bibliography  187 

Classes  in  the  Sunday  School.     By  Harry  F.  Ward.     Price 

$1.12,  postpaid  $1.22. 
The  Church  and  the  People's  Play.     By  Henry  A.  Atkinson, 

Associate  Secretary  of  the  Commission  on  the  Church  and 

Social  Service.     Price  $1.25,  postpaid  $1.35. 
The  Church  and  Country  Life.     Report  of  Conference  held 

by  the   Commission  on   the   Church  and   Country  Life, 

Columbus,  Ohio,  December  6-10,  191 5.     Edited  by  Paul 

L.  Vogt.     Price  $1.00,  postpaid  $1.10. 

IV.  VOLUMES  ESPECIALLY  RECOMMENDED 

The  Industrial  Situation.  A  study  of  economic  and  industrial 
conditions  possessing  both  historical  and  constructive  value. 
By  Frank  Tracy  Carlton.  Price  75  cents,  postpaid  85 
cents. 

Religious,  Education  and  Democracy.  By  Benjamin  S. 
Winchester,  Chairman  of  the  Commission  on  Christian 
Education.     Price  $1.50,  postpaid  $1.60. 

World's  Social  Progress  Congress.  Addresses,  San  Francisco, 
California,  April,  1915.  Edited  by  William  M.  Bell,  Presi- 
dent of  the  World  Social  Progress  Council.  Price  $i.oo, 
postpaid  $1.10. 

V.  PAPER-COVERED   VOLUMES   AND   PAMPHLETS 

Set,  including  reports  and  all  pamphlets,  25  cents. 
Reports: 

Proceedings  of  the  Second  Quadrennial  Council  of  191 2, 
to  accompany  the  volume  "  Christian  Unity  at  Work." 
25  cents. 

Annual  Reports  for  1914.     Price  20  cents. 

Annual  Reports  for  19 15.     Price  20  cents. 

Proceedings  of  the  Third  Quadrennial  Council  for  19 16. 
Price  25  cents. 

Proceedings  of  Special  Meeting  of  the  Council  at  Wash- 
ington, May,  191 7,  to  accompany  "  The  Churches  of 
Christ  in  Time  of  War."     Price  10  cents. 

Annual  Report  of  the  Home  Missions  Council  for  19 16. 
Price  60  cents. 

Report    of    Committee    of    One    Hundred.     Religious 


188  Bibliography 

Activities   During   the   Panama-Pacific  International 
Exposition  at  San  Francisco,  California,  191 5. 
The  Federal  Council  and  the  Federative  Movement: 

The  Federal  Council :  Its  Plan,  Purpose  and  Work. 

Statement  of  Principles  of  the  Federal  Council. 

New  Year  and  Easter  Week  of  Prayer  Topics. 
I  The  Federal  Council:  Its  Constitution  and  Work. 
Commissions  on  the  Church  and   Social   Service  and  the 
Church  and  Country  Life: 

What  Every  Church  Should  Know  About   Its  Com- 
munity. 

Social  Service  for  Young  People. 

Continuous  Toil  and  Continuous  Toilers,  or  One  Day  in 
Seven  for  Industrial  Workers. 

The  Church  and  Modern  Industry. 

The  Church's  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Labor. 

A  Plan  of  Social  Work  for  the  United  Churches. 

South  Bethlehem  Industrial  Investigation. 

Social  Service  Catechism. 

Muscatine  Industrial  Investigation. 

The  Church  and  Industrial  Warfare,  being  a  report  on 
the  Colorado  and  Michigan  strikes. 

Reading  Lists  on  Social  Questions 

Suggestions  for  Labor  Sunday. 

Labor  Sunday  Program. 

The  Open  Forum;  by  William  Horton  Foster. 

Social  Ideals  of  the  Churches  (paper). 

Social  Ideals  of  the  Churches  (card). 

A  Social  Survey  for  Rural  Communities ;  by  G.  Frederick 
Wells.     Price  10  cents  a  copy. 

Motion   Pictures  in   Religious   and   Educational  Work, 
with  Practical  Suggestions  for  Their  Use.    By  Edward 
M.  McConoughey.     Price  10  cents. 
Commission  on  Interchurch  Federations,  (State  and  Local) : 

Christian  Conquests  Through  Interchurch  Activities. 

World  Needs  a  Church  Heartily  One;    by  William  P. 
Merrill. 

Suggestions  for  State  and  Local  Federations. 

Kinds  and  Kindliness  of  Co-operation;    by  A.  W.  An- 
thony. 


DontLetHerSign! 


?»«*»«£  Afofc 


2-°oo.ooqooo  ;n  r    L 


If  you  believe  that  the  traffic  in  Alcohol 
does  more  harm  than  good-  help  stopit! 

Strengthen  America  Campaign 

FEDERAL  COUNCIL  OF  THE  CHURCHES  OF  CHRIST  IN  AMERICA 


105    East  Twenty  Second  Street.  New  York  Gty.N.Y. 


Bibliography  189 

Model  Constitution  for  a  County  or  City  Federation. 

How  to  Organize  a  Church  Federation. 

Mobilization  of  Christian  Forces  for  the  Service  of  Com- 
munity and  Nation. 

Principles   to  Guide  in  the  Co-operative   Relations  of 
Christian  Organizations;  by  John  R.  Mott. 
Commission  on  International  Justice  and  Goodwill: 

Europe's  War  America's  Warning;    by  Charles  S.  Mac- 
farland. 

The  Churches  of  Christ  in  America  and  International 
Peice;  by  Charles  S.  Macfarland. 

A  Hundred  Years  of  Peace 

New  Era  in  Human  History. 

A  Challenge  to  Christians. 

The  New  Task  of  the  Church. 

The  Duty  of  the  Church. 
Commission  on  Relations  with  the  Orient: 

A  Comprehensive  Immigration  Policy  and  Program. 

Asia's  Appeal  to  America. 

The  Pacific  Coast  and  the  New  Oriental  Policy. 

Report  of  the  Christian  Embassy  to  Japan. 

America's  Asiatic  Problem  and  Its  Solution. 
Commission  on  Christian  Education: 

Lesson  Courses  on  International  Peace  and  Good-will 
for  the  Churches. 
Commission  on  Evangelism: 

Evangelistic  Work  in  the  CLurches  of  America. 

Advance  Steps  in  Evangelism. 

Call  to  Prayer  for  a  World-Wide  Revival. 
Commission  on  Temperance: 

Temperance  Facts.    Six  Lessons  on  Educational  Temper- 
ance (10  cents  each). 

Catalog  ©f  Temperance  pamphlets  and  leaflets  sent  on 
request. 

Literature  Issued  by  the  Federal  Council  Relative 
to  the  War 

The  Duty  of  the  Church  in  This  Hour  of  National  Need. 
Information  regarding  Army  and  Navy  Chaplaincies, 


190  Bibliography 

Set  of  Red  Cross  literature,  including  specifications  for 
bandages,  knitting,  etc. 

War  Relief: 

The  Opportunity  and  Test  of  American  Christianity. 

The  United  Appeal  of  the  Organizations  for  War  Relief  in 

Europe  and  Asia. 
The  Huguenot  Churches  of  France  to  the  Churches  and 

Christians  of  America. 
The  Proclamation  of  President  Wilson  and  the  Message  of 

the  Federal  Council  to  the  Churches  and  Christians  of 

America. 
The  Christmas  Message  of  the  Federal  Council  in  Behalf 

of  the  Fathers  and  Mothers  and  Little  Children  of 

the  Lands  Across  the  Sea. 
An  Easter  Message   to   the   Pastors  and  Sunday- School 

Superintendents  of  America, 
The  Appeal  of  the  Huguenot  Missions  and  Churches  of 

Belgium  and  France  to  the   Christian   Churches   of 

America. 

Lutheran  Reformation 

Pamphlet  set  of  literature  on  Celebration  of  Quadri- Cen- 
tennial of  the  Protestant  Reformation,  including  historical 
sketches,  hand-book  of  suggestions,  etc. 

VI.  PERIODICALS 

Sample  copy  sent  on  request 

i.  The  National  Advocate.  A  comprehensive  temperance 
paper,  designed  primarily  for  use  in  churches  and  Sunday- 
schools.  Published  monthly.  Price  $1.00  per  year; 
special  rates  to  pastors,  clubs  and  Sunday-school  classes. 

2.  The  Worker.     For  use  among  working  men  and  of  special 

interest  to  those  concerned  with  the  economic  phases 
of  the  liquor  problem.  Published  monthly.  Price  25 
cents  per  year;   greatly  reduced  rates  in  quantities. 

3.  The  Youth's  Temperance  Banner.     A   "  Youth's   Com- 

panion "  devoted  to  temperance  stories  and  articles. 


Bibliography  191 

Published  monthly.  Price  30  cents  per  year;  in  clubs 
of  ten  or  more  to  one  address,  12  cents. 
4.  The  Water  Lily.  A  four-page  monthly  containing  stories 
attractively  illustrated;  suited  to  children  between  five 
and  ten  years.  Price  15  cents  per  year;  in  clubs  of 
ten  or  more  to  one  address,  60  cents. 


Priced  native  Vntfe'ct  Sfdiei  t>£  'Atyeyica 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 

This  book  is  due  on  the  date  indicated  below,  or  at  the 
expiration  of  a  definite  period  after  the  date  of  borrowing,  as 
provided  by  the  rules  of  the  Library  or  by  special  arrange- 
ment with  the  Librarian  in  charge. 


DATE  BORROWED 

DATE  DUE 

DATE  BORROWED 

DATE  DUE 

C28(l14l)M100 

0035518812 


934- 

Macfarland 


934 


M/643 


BRITTLE  DO  NOT 
PHOTOCOPY 


JUL  20 1942 


